''Aristida stricta'', known as wiregrass or pineland three-awn grass, is a warm-season

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

native to North America. The species dominates

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

vegetation in

sandhill A sandhill is a type of ecological community or xeric wildfire-maintained ecosystem. It is not the same as a sand dune. It features very short fire return intervals, one to five years. Without fire, sandhills undergo ecological succession and b ...

s and flatwoods coastal plain

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s of the

Carolinas The Carolinas, also known simply as Carolina, are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the southwes ...

in the Southeastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Its appearance is characterized by villous bristles ( indument) on each side of its midrib and on the back of the involute leaf blade.

Taxonomy and etymology

The common name of ''Aristida stricta'', wiregrass, gave rise to the naming of the Wiregrass Region in which it is located. The species was first described by

André Michaux André Michaux (' → ahn- mee-; sometimes Anglicisation, anglicised as Andrew Michaud; 8 March 174611 October 1802) was a French botanist and explorer. He is most noted for his study of North American flora. In addition Michaux collected specime ...

in 1803. In 1993, the southern population of the species was split off and described as '' Aristida beyrichiana'' because of geographic and morphological differences. The two species were treated as an "''Aristida stricta'' ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

". However, a decade later, further anatomical studies suggested that the two species did not have sufficient morphological differences to be considered separate. As of 2024, Plants of the World Online accepted ''Aristida beyrichiana'' as separate from ''A. stricta''.

Ecology

This is a fast-growing species that regenerates quickly after fires. The plant depends on regular summer burning in order to stimulate flowering and seed production.

References

Bibliography

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Taxonomy and etymology

Ecology

References

Bibliography

Further reading