Aristida adscensionis L., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Aristida coerulescens Desf.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: san mang cao

English: annual bristle grass, six weeks needgle grass, six-weeks three-awn

Spanish: flechilla, plumilla

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Habit: Annual, or perennial. Culms erect, or geniculately ascending, or decumbent; 10-100 cm long. Culm-internodes distally glabrous. Culm-nodes glabrous. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blades flat, or conduplicate; 5-20 cm long; 1-3 mm wide. Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open, or contracted; elliptic; 10-30 cm long; evenly furnished, or contracted about primary branches. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.  Spikelets comprising 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; subterete; 6-12 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Floret callus elongated; 0.5 mm long; pilose; obtuse. Glumes persistent; similar; reaching apex of florets, or shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume lanceolate; 4-7 mm long; 0.8 times length of upper glume; scarious; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Lower glume primary vein scabrous. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex emarginate, or acute; muticous, or mucronate. Upper glume lanceolate; 5-10 mm long; 0.75-1 times length of adjacent fertile lemma; scarious; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Upper glume primary vein scabrous. Upper glume lateral veins absent. Upper glume apex dentate; 2 -fid; mucronate. Florets: Fertile lemma elliptic; laterally compressed; 5-13 mm long; coriaceous; keeled; 3 -veined. Lemma midvein scabrous. Lemma margins convolute; covering most of palea. Lemma apex acute; awned; 3 -awned. Principal lemma awn with 7-25 mm long limb; persistent. Lateral lemma awns 5-25 mm long; subequal to principal, or shorter than principal. Palea 0.2 times length of lemma; without keels. Flower: Anthers 3"  (World Grass Species).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Nearly worldwide in tropic, subtropic and warm-temperate regions" (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) As Aristida subspicata Trin. & Ruprecht. Vouchers cited: B. Toutain 4255 (PAP), S. Jourdan 499 (PAP) Adventice
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1482) Adventive
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1482) Volunteer
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (p. 19) Voucher cited: Munro 128 (BISH)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 18)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 18)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 192)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 18)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Aristida adscensionis is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Aristida adscensionis as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Aristida adscensionis may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Clayton, W.D./Harman, K.T./Williamson, H. 2011. World Grass Species: Descriptions, Identification, and Information Retrieval [GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora]. The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar. 1980. Grass weeds, vol. 2. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 137 pp. + plates.

Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. 1998. Notes on the grasses of Hawai‘i: new records, corrections, and name changes. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1997. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 55:17-38.

Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. 2008. Flora of the Marquesas Islands. National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Smithsonian Institution. Online database.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).