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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE GRASS FAMILY | |||||||||
| The grass family is economically
and ecologically important. Many of the world’s crops are products
of the grasses. In addition, grasses are represented in almost all terrestrial
ecosystems and are an important part of the natural food chain. The grasses have a set of structures unique to the family. These plants can be annual or perennial and are usually herbaceous. The roots are fibrous, but rhizomes or runners may be found in some species. The stems are solitary or tufted, and may be branched. The stems are round with hollow internodes and solid nodes. The leaves are basal or on the stem. The stem leaves are 2-ranked, meaning they are in two vertical rows and are sheathing at the base. A ligule is present where the leaf sheath and the blade meet. The florets are in spikelets which are then arranged into clusters called spikes, racemes, or panicles. The spikelets usually have two glumes at the base and may be one to several-flowered. Sometimes there are sterile florets, which may consist only of the palea and lemma, present above or below the fertile florets. The florets are usually perfect, meaning that they have both male and female parts. The lemma and palea are the two bracts that subtend each floret. The lemma may be awnless or awned from the tip or the back. Each fertile floret has between one and three stamens and one superior ovary with a feathery stigma. The fruit type is a caryopsis or grain and is unique to the grass family. | |||||||||
| RED THREEAWN | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Aristida purpurea var. longiseta | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Red threeawn grows as tall as 40 cm from a fibrous root system. The stems are tufted in large bunches. The leaves are often curved and are less than 1 mm wide with rolled edges. The leaves are rough on the upper surface. The inflorescence is branched and is up to 8 cm long. The spikelets only have one flower. The glumes are unequal, with the second glume being up to twice as long as the first. The hardened thickening at the base of the lemma has short hairs. The lemma is hardened and ends in a long three-branched awn. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Red threeawn grows on sandy or rocky grassland slopes. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in southwestern Saskatchewan in the Mixed Grassland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Red threeawn is endangered because of rarity in Saskatchewan. It is regionally restricted to one subregion of the province and is almost always locally sparse. Possible threats have been identified. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY RED THREEAWN | |||||||||
| * Does the lemma have a three-branched awn? * Is the lemma thickened? * Do the spikelets have only one flower? * Did you find in southwestern Saskatchewan? |
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| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found red threeawn! | |||||||||
