Lower sheaths longer than the internodes, usually glabrous, or occasionally with appressed-pilose hairs; blades 1-3 mm wide, often curling. Glumesunequal; lower glumes 6-10 mm, usually longer than the upper glumes; upper glumes 5-8 mm; awns 15-25 mm, of equal thickness, straight or only slightly contorted, divergent.
Aristida purpurascens var. purpurascens grows in waste places, glades, fields, and pine savannahs in sandy or clay soils. Its range extends into northern Mexico.