Aristida personata

Aristida personata is a perennial bunchgrass in the family Poaceae, native to grasslands and savannas of tropical and subtropical regions. Plants form dense tufts of slender, wiry culms typically reaching 30 to 80 centimetres in height, arising from a fibrous root system. The narrow, involute leaf blades are stiff and often greyish-green, with smooth or scabrid surfaces and short ligules. Inflorescences are open or contracted panicles bearing one-flowered spikelets characteristic of the genus. Each lemma terminates in a three-branched awn (the diagnostic feature of Aristida), with awn branches approximately equal in length, twisted at the base and diverging above. The glumes are narrow, acute, and unequal. Flowering occurs in the warm season, and the awned florets aid in wind and animal dispersal as well as self-burial of the caryopsis upon contact with soil.