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- True grasses
- Triraphis mollis
Triraphis mollis — purpleheads
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New England distribution
Adapted from BONAP data
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
Found this plant? Take a photo and post a sighting.
Facts
Purpleheads is native to Australia. In North America it has been collected only in Texas, and from the waste site of a nineteenth-century wool carding factory in Massachusetts.
Habitat
Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats)
Characteristics
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
- Massachusetts
- Leaf blade width
- 2–5 mm
- Inflorescence branches
-
- the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence
- there are no branch points between the base of the inflorescence axis and the flowers, or they are not obvious
- Spikelet length
- 4.5–6 mm
- Glume relative length
- neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets
- Awn on glume
-
- the glume has an awn
- the glume has no awn
- One or more florets
- there is more than one floret per spikelet
- Lemma awn length
- 5–7 mm
-
Flowers
- Anther number
- 3
- Awn on glume
-
- the glume has an awn
- the glume has no awn
- Floret number
- 3–9
- Glume relative length
- neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets
- Glume veins
- 3
- Inflorescence arrangement
- the spikelets are uniform
- Inflorescence axis orientation
- the inflorescence axis is straight
- Inflorescence branch length
- Up to 4.5 cm
- Inflorescence branches
-
- the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence
- there are no branch points between the base of the inflorescence axis and the flowers, or they are not obvious
- Inflorescence length
- 60–300 mm
- Inflorescence length to width ratio
- 4–10
- Inflorescence type (general)
-
- the inflorescence is a spike, or is spike-like, lacking obvious branches
- the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches
- Inflorescence type (specific)
- the inflorescence is branched, and the branches do NOT both grow from the same side of the plant AND look like spikes
- Inflorescence width
- 15–30 mm
- Inforescence position
- the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem
- Lemma awn base
- the awn is attached right at the tip of the lemma
- Lemma awn length
- 5–7 mm
- Lemma awn number
- the lemma has more than one awn on it
- Lemma base hairs
- the lemma has hairs at the base
- Lemma cross-section
- the lemma is V-shaped if you cut across the midpoint
- Lemma marginal vein hairs
- the marginal vein of the lemma is hairless
- Lemma surface
- the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)
- Lemma tip
- the lemma tip is split into two or more points
- Lemma vein number
- 3
- Lower glume length
- 3–4 mm
- Lower glume relative length
- the lower glume is nearly as long, or as long as, the upper glume
- One or more florets
- there is more than one floret per spikelet
- Spikelet axis tip
- there is no extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet
- Spikelet disintegration
- the spikelet breaks off above the glumes, so that after the florets fall off, the glumes remain
- Spikelet length
- 4.5–6 mm
- Spikelets spiny
- the spikelets do not appear spiny
- Tip of glume
- the tip of the glume is divided into two or more points
- Upper glume length
- 4–5 mm
- Upper glume shape
- the upper glume is widest at or below the middle
-
Growth form
- Lifespan
- the plant lives more than two years
-
Leaves
- Basal leaves
- the plant has few or no leaves coming from the base of the flowering stem
- Leaf auricles
- the leaves do not have auricles
- Leaf basal lobe hairy
- NA
- Leaf blade cross-section
- the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section, or slightly folded or rolled inwards
- Leaf blade length
- 7–24 cm
- Leaf blade width
- 2–5 mm
- Leaf ligule type
-
- the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane with fine hairs
- the leaf ligule is in the form of fine hairs
- Leaf margin glands
- there are no glands along the edges of the leaf blade
- Leaf sheath hairs
- there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath
-
Place
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
- Massachusetts
- Specific habitat
- man-made or disturbed habitats
-
Stem, shoot, branch
- Hairs at nodes
- the stem nodes are hairless or they have very sparse hairs
- Plant height
- 2–90 cm
- Roots at lower stem nodes
-
- no
- yes
- Stem spacing
- the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts
Wetland status
Not classified
New England distribution and conservation status
Distribution
- Connecticut
- absent
- Maine
- absent
- Massachusetts
- present
- New Hampshire
- absent
- Rhode Island
- absent
- Vermont
- absent
Conservation status
Exact status definitions can vary from state to state. For details, please check with your state.
- Massachusetts
- not applicable (S-rank: SNA)
Native to North America?
No
Sometimes confused with
- Muhlenbergia alopecuroides:
- lemmas with a single awn, lower glumes usually with 2 awns, and leaf blades 1-2 mm wide (vs. T. mollis, lemmas with 3 awns, lower glumes usually with a mucro or very short awn, and leaf blades 2-5 mm wide).
Family
Genus
From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae
1. Triraphis mollis R. Br. E
purpleheads. MA. Wool waste.