5. Aristida lanosa Muhl. ex Elliott (woolly three‑awn)

Pl. 127 f–h; Map 515

Plants perennial, with a firm, hardened base. Flowering stems 40–150 cm long, all or most of the nodes with tufts of woolly hairs. Leaf blades 2–5 mm wide, flat, glabrous to roughened or sparsely hairy. Leaf sheaths with woolly or cobwebby patches of grayish white hairs, at least the lower and young sheaths. Lower glume 9–19 mm long, slightly longer than the upper glume, 1‑nerved, roughened along the midnerve and usually minutely hairy on the sides, the tip sharply pointed or with an awn 1–4 mm long. Upper glume 8–15 mm long, roughened along the midnerve, but with the sides glabrous or nearly so, the tip undivided, sharply pointed or with an awn 1–4 mm long. Lemmas with the body 7–12 mm long, roughened along the midnerve, the awns persistent, not jointed at the tip of the lemma (the awns arise as a continuation of the lemma tip, without a cross‑line), circular in cross‑section, the central awn 15–32 mm long, sharply bent outward at the base, but not coiled. Lateral awns 7–18 mm long, erect or ascending. August–November.

Uncommon, known only from Dunklin, Scott, and Stoddard Counties (southeastern U.S. west to Missouri and Texas, mostly on the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains). Upland prairies, savannas, and old fields, always on deep sand.

This is the tallest species of three‑awn in the state. In Missouri, it is restricted to deep, sandy soils along the base of Crowley’s Ridge and the adjacent Sikeston Ridge. Several associated species share this restricted distribution, including Desmodium strictum and Polygonella americana. Originally, A. lanosa presumably was a component of sand prairie communities in this region.