Scientific Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Tridens pilosus, Uralepis pilosa
Other common names
hairy tridens
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Warm
Occasional on rocky slopes and in open oak and pinyon juniper woodlands and desert flats.
Plant Community
Desert Scrub
Interior Chaparral
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Grasslands
Low elevation
2500
High elevation
5500
Similar species
Tridens muticus
General Description
Small bunchgrass with tufted basal leaves. Seedhead stems 4 to 12 inches tall, smooth without hairs or minutely with rather long stiff hairs.
Short, weak-rooted perennial grass with basal tufts of short leaves; seedhead stems erect, nearly leafless, emerging from the basal tufts, topped with 3 to 10 short, densely hairy, purplish to straw colored spikelets. Smaller than Tridens muticus.
Grass type
Perennial bunchgrass
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
Less than 12 inches
Seedhead Structure
Branched - contracted
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
May
Last bloom month
July
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Less than 1/4 inch
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Seedheads 3/4 to 2 inches long. Spikelets 1/2 to 3/4 inch long with 7 to 18 closely spaced very hairy florets.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
Yes
Blade cross-section
Flat
Folded
Blades 1 to 2-1/4 inches long, less than 1/8 inch wide, both surfaces sparsely soft-hairy or smooth without hairs, grayish-green.
Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
No
Ligule
Membranous
Auricles
No
Fair.