Difference between revisions of "Aristida purpurascens"

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==Ecology==
 
==Ecology==
 
===Habitat=== <!--Natural communities, human disturbed habitats, topography, hydrology, soils, light, fire regime requirements for removal of competition, etc.-->
 
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This species is found in dry habitats, especially those containing sandy or rocky soils.<ref name="Weakley 2015"/>
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This species is found in dry habitats, especially those containing sandy or rocky soils.<ref name="Weakley 2015"/> In Maryland pine-cedar savannas, ''A. purpurascens'' was the second most important species as calculated by summing the relative frequency and relative cover.<ref name="Tyndall & Farr 1989">Tyndal R. W. and Farr P. M. (1989). Vegetation structure and flora of a serpentine pin-cedar savanna in Maryland.
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Castanea 54(3):191-199.</ref>
 
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<!--===Phenology===--> <!--Timing off flowering, fruiting, seed dispersal, and environmental triggers.  Cite PanFlora website if appropriate: http://www.gilnelson.com/PanFlora/ -->
 
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Revision as of 11:29, 14 December 2017

Aristida purpurascens
Aristida purpurascens AFP.jpg
Photo by the Atlas of Florida Plants Database
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Liliopsida - Moncots
Order: Cyperales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Aristida
Species: A. purpurascens
Binomial name
Aristida purpurascens
Poiret
ARIS PURP DIST.JPG
Natural range of Aristida purpurascens from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common Name(s): arrowfeather,[1] arrowfeather threeawn[2]

Taxonomic Notes

Varieties: A. purpurascens var. purpurascens; A. purpurascens var. tenuispica; A. purpurascens var. virgata[2]

Description

A. purpurascens is a monoecious perennial graminoid.[2] In the sandhills, it can be found in a green or strongly glaucous-blue form.[1]

Distribution

Aristida purpurascens is found from Massachusetts west to Wisconsin and Kansas and southward to Florida and Texas.[1] It may also be found in parts of Nebraska and Ontario, Canada.[2]

Ecology

Habitat

This species is found in dry habitats, especially those containing sandy or rocky soils.[1] In Maryland pine-cedar savannas, A. purpurascens was the second most important species as calculated by summing the relative frequency and relative cover.[3]

Use by animals

Seeds from this grass compose 2-5% of the diet of some terrestrial birds.[2] A study in Michigan showed the seeds of A. purpurascens was also abundant in the caches of prairie deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii).[4]

Conservation and Management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Weakley A. S.(2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Herbarium.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 USDA, NRCS. (2016). The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 14 December 2017). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
  3. Tyndal R. W. and Farr P. M. (1989). Vegetation structure and flora of a serpentine pin-cedar savanna in Maryland. Castanea 54(3):191-199.
  4. Howard W. E. and Evans F. C. (1961). Seeds stored by prairie deer mice. Journal of Mammalogy 42(2):260-263.