Aristida adscensionis var. vulpioides (Hance) Hackel ex Henrard; A. heymannii Regel; A. vulgaris Trinius & Ruprecht; A. vulpioides Hance; Chaetaria adscensionis (Linnaeus) P. Beauvois.

Annual. Culms tufted, erect or geniculate at base, 15–55 cm tall, branched. Leaf sheaths smooth, glabrous, shorter than internodes, laxly overlapping; leaf blades involute, 3–20 cm, finely pointed; ligule ca. 0.5 mm. Panicle usually narrow, loosely contracted, 4–20 cm; branches short, ascending, inserted singly on main axis. Spikelets gray-green or purplish green; glumes subequal or unequal with upper longer, 1-veined, scabrid on vein, lower glume lanceolate-oblong, 4–6.8 mm, acute, upper glume linear, 5–8 mm, obtuse to emarginate or apiculate; callus ca. 0.5 mm, narrowly obtuse; lemma linear, distinctly longer than upper glume, 7–11 mm, laterally compressed, smooth or rarely scabrid in upper half, keel scabrid upward; awn branches arising directly from lemma apex, central branch 1–2.5 cm, laterals slightly shorter. Anthers 1.8–2 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Oct.

Aristida adscensionis is a widely distributed, variable, annual pioneer of dry, open places, recognized by its long, parallel-sided, flattened lemma often exserted from the glumes. It is used for forage.

Dry mountain slopes, rocky fissures, and along river banks; 200–1800 m. Gansu, Hebei, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Yunnan [tropical and warm-temperate regions of the world].