Purple Threeawn
Aristida purpurea
A delicate bunchgrass whose long, reddish-purple awns catch the light like a shimmering haze, especially backlit. A pioneer that greens up and flowers after rain on poor, dry soils.
- Family
- Poaceae
- Type
- grass
- Lifespan
- annual
- Height
- 1–2 ft
- Spacing
- 1–1.5 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- April, May, June, July, August, September, October
- Bloom colors
- purple
- Wildlife value
- butterflies, larval host
- Landscape uses
- border, container, naturalizing
- Native states
- AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MN, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY
Related native plants
More Aristida species
- Southern Wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana)
- Arrowfeather Threeawn (Aristida purpurascens)
- Carolina Wiregrass (Aristida stricta)