Aristida oliganthaMichx.

prairie threeawn

WFO wfo-0000849115 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Aristida oligantha, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. a Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-01-23 / obs. 176955493
Aristida oligantha, photographed by Bonnie Semmling
fig. b Bonnie Semmling, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 172004614
Aristida oligantha, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. c Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159289742
Aristida oligantha, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. d Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159089083
Aristida oligantha, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. e Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159088528
Aristida oligantha, photographed by Zihao Wang
fig. f Zihao Wang, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 102117935
Aristida oligantha, photographed by Summit Metro Parks
fig. g Summit Metro Parks, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 51846759
Aristida oligantha, photographed by Ed Alverson
fig. h Ed Alverson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 55869365

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 47 botanical countries

Regions where Aristida oligantha is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Northeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming AlabamaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMexico NortheastMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriNebraskaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Aristida oligantha, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Northeast MXE
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Nebraska NEB
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 7 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Aristida macrochaeta Steud.
  • Aristida micropoda Trin. & Rupr.
  • Aristida oligantha var. nervata Beal
  • Aristida pallens Nutt.
  • Aristida pauciflora Buckley
  • Chaetaria oligantha (Michx.) P.Beauv.
  • Chaetaria olygantha (Michx.) P.Beauv.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.