Aristida purpurascensPoir.

arrowfeather threeawn

WFO wfo-0000849245 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Aristida purpurascens, photographed by botanygirl
fig. a botanygirl, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-09-26 / obs. 159985431
Aristida purpurascens, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. b Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 131961027
Aristida purpurascens, photographed by Chris Hoess
fig. c Chris Hoess, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 95480839
Aristida purpurascens, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. d Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 67278238
Aristida purpurascens, photographed by Will McFarland
fig. e Will McFarland, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 25850434
Aristida purpurascens, photographed by Evan Barker
fig. f Evan Barker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 5424031
Aristida purpurascens, photographed by Evan Barker
fig. g Evan Barker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 5364687
Aristida purpurascens, photographed by Chris Hoess
fig. h Chris Hoess, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 2512829

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 37 botanical countries

Regions where Aristida purpurascens is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Southeast, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Belize, Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua AlabamaArkansasConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMarylandMassachusettsMexico SoutheastMichiganMississippiMissouriNebraskaNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsinBelizeCubaHondurasNicaragua DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Aristida purpurascens, 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
Arkansas ARK
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Southeast MXT
Michigan MIC
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Nebraska NEB
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Belize BLZ SOUTHERN AMERICA
Cuba CUB
Honduras HON
Nicaragua NIC

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 12 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 affinis (Schult.) Kunth
  • Aristida elliotiana Steud.
  • Aristida geyeriana Steud.
  • Aristida purpurascens var. alabamensis Trin. & Rupr.
  • Aristida purpurascens var. glaucissima Scribn. & C.R.Ball
  • Aristida purpurascens var. minor Vasey
  • Aristida purpurascens var. purpurascens
  • Aristida purpurascens var. tenuispica (Hitchc.) Allred
  • Aristida racemosa Muhl.
  • Aristida tenuispica Hitchc.
  • Chaetaria affinis Schult.
  • Chaetaria purpurascens (Poir.) 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.