Enneapogon desvauxii

Nineawn Pappusgrass


Enneapogon desvauxii or Nineawn Pappusgrass

Enneapogon desvauxii , common name Nineawn Pappusgrass.

 Whose Dry Plants

Several dry but complete plants with a mess of leaves.

 Spikelets

Old dry seedheads still shed some 9-awned spikelets.

Dry seedheads

The entire plant is small, less than knee-high.

 Another Inflorescence

These seedheads have lost most of their spikelets. Old seedheads retain their glumes.

 Four Spikelets

The spikelets are doubled and usually have 18 awns total.

Close View of Two Spikelets

Here the two florets have been forceably separated.

 Spikelet with Seed

 This spikelet pair lost a smooth brown seed (above the awns). The glumes and awns are hirsute.

Hairy Awns

False light shows the hairs on the awns.

How to Identify Nineawn Pappusgrass

  The cute little spikelets of Enneapogon desvauxii with their nine (eighteen) awns in a ring are distinctive. To me each looks like a little octopus (Enneapogon desoctopi??). The grass is quite short, below knee-high. It is perennial. The doubled florets stick together like one whole squid with 18 arms. The seedheads are spike-like furry puffs.


Similar Species

  No other grass has spikelets 1/8 inch long that look like octopuses.