Aristida mutabilis

Aristida mutabilis is an annual or short-lived perennial grass in the family Poaceae, widely distributed across the semi-arid and arid zones of Africa from the Sahel southward, and extending into parts of the Arabian Peninsula and South Asia. It is a tufted grass that typically grows 20 to 60 cm tall, with slender, erect or geniculate culms and narrow, often inrolled leaf blades. The inflorescence is a loose, open panicle bearing single-flowered spikelets, each with a characteristic three-awned lemma; the awns are slender and divergent, aiding in wind and animal dispersal of the seed. Like other three-awned grasses, it is highly variable, which is reflected in its specific epithet. Aristida mutabilis is an important component of pastoral rangelands in the Sahel, where it provides forage for livestock during the brief rainy season, though its sharp-pointed callus can cause injury to grazing animals when seeds mature.