Scientific Family
Poaceae
Other common names
red threeawn
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Warm
Rocky or sandy plains and slopes, frequently on roadsides.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Disturbed Areas
Low elevation
3300
High elevation
7000
General Description
Erect perennial in small dense clumps. with a reddish to purple hue.
Tufts of inwardly rolled 2 to 4 inch long blades; Seedhead narrow, often dense. Branches of the seedhead slender and flexuous; lemma conspicuously scabrous (rough to the touch). Basal portion of awn very short or almost lacking, not twisted, central awns
Grass type
Perennial bunchgrass
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
12 inches or more
Seedhead Structure
Branched - contracted
Seedhead droops
Yes
First bloom month
May
Last bloom month
September
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Greater than 1 inch
Three Awns
Yes
Awns bent
Yes
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Seedheads nodding, narrow but rather loose. Glumes are noticeably unequal. Awns are fine and delicate, deeply colored when
grains
are mature.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
No
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Involute – rolled inward on upper surface
Blades 2-10 inches long, <1/8 inch wide, tightly rolled inward to flat, usually smooth without hairs, sometimes roughened with
stout projections on bottom, gray-green, lax to curled at maturity.
Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
Yes
Ligule
Membranous
Auricles
No
Poor. One of the poorest forages of our common range grasses. Palatability is low, particularly after the plants are mature.