Aristida stricta
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Aristida stricta, known as wiregrass or pineland three-awn grass, is a warm-season grass native to North America. The species dominates understory vegetation in sandhills and flatwoods coastal plain ecosystems of the Carolinas in the Southeastern United States.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Its appearance is characterized by villous bristles (indument) on each side of its midrib and on the back of the involute leaf blade.Template:Sfn
Aristida stricta ranges in size, but can reach a width of 15 centimeters at the base.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> The species' leaves are approximately 0.5 meters in length,<ref name=":0" /> with two to three leaves per tiller.<ref name=":1">Parrott, RT. 1967. A study of wiregrass (Aristida stricta Michx.) with a particular reference to fire. M.S. thesis, Duke University, Durham, NC</ref> The seeds of A. stricta are approximately 4.5 millimeters in length and 0.4 millimeters in width; a translucent brown in color.<ref name=":0" />
Taxonomy and etymology
The common name of Aristida stricta, wiregrass, gave rise to the naming of the Wiregrass Region in which it is located.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The species was first described by André Michaux in 1803.<ref>Template:Cite POWO</ref> In 1993, the southern population of the species was split off and described as Aristida beyrichiana because of geographic and morphological differences. The two species were treated as an "Aristida stricta sensu lato species complex".Template:Sfn However, a decade later, further anatomical studies suggested that the two species did not have sufficient morphological differences to be considered separate.Template:Sfn As of 2024, Plants of the World Online accepted Aristida beyrichiana as separate from A. stricta.<ref>Template:Cite POWO</ref>
Ecology
Most commonly found in longleaf pine savannas,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> this is a fast-growing species that regenerates quickly after fires (specimens may experience up to 2.5 centimeters of growth per day following a fire).<ref name=":1" /> The plant depends on regular summer burning in order to stimulate flowering and seed production,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> with May burns resulting in the greatest subsequent abundance of reproductive tiller.<ref name=":1" /> Additionally, A. stricta plays a foundational role in the facilitation of burns as its foliage accelerates the spread of lightning-set fires to the rest of the ecosystem.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Conservation, cultivation, and restoration
A. stricta has been observed to have a negative association with agricultural history,<ref name=":2">Template:Cite journal</ref> as well as with general soil disturbance.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> However, it has been observed to have a positive association with a system's burn frequency.<ref name=":2" />
There have been efforts to restore wiregrass communities, in which A. stricta is propagated from seed and then planted.<ref>Seamon, P. A., and R. L. Myers. 1992. Propagating wiregrass from seed. Palmetto, v. 12, no. 4, p. 6-7.</ref> A study conducted by the Tall Timbers Research Station found that plugs of A. stricta possessed the ability to dominate a low-density area of land through reproduction over the span of decades.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>