Aristida purpurea Nutt. var. longiseta (Steud.) Vasey

vernacular Fendler threeawn — variety · Poaceae

USDA: ARPUL
GBIF: 4125843 syn.
Rank: variety

Fendler threeawn (Aristida purpurea var. longiseta) — Platephotograph · Mike PlagensCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Graminoid
Duration: Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Poaceae Barnhart
Genus: Aristida

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 8 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 8 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: Medium
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Low
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 165 min.
Precipitation: 2–15 in/yr
pH range: 5.5–7.5
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Bunch
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 1.4 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Spring
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 500,000
Propagation: seed

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Contracting Only
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Medium
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 8 counties across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 8 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ARPUL ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/4125843 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z