Scientific Family
Poaceae
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Cool
Warm
Dry plains, rocky slopes, grasslands, and woodlands, below 5500 feet.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Low elevation
3000
High elevation
5500
General Description
Medium sized erect perennial with leaves that narrow gradually to a slender point.
Small perennial bunchrgrass. Blades narrow. Lower sheath hairy. Collar hairy. Ligule membranous and hairy. Auricles membranous. Seedhead contracted, spikelets multi-flowered, not crowded. Lemmas purple, often hairy at the base and sometimes notched.
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
No
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
October
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Absent
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Seedheads narrow, contracted, spikelike, 2 to 8 inches long. Spikelets often have a faint purplish hue. When mature, seeds drop off, leaving a pair of paper-like scales (glumes) that persist through the year.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Involute – rolled inward on upper surface
Blades 3 to 6 inches long with a waxy coating, usually rolled inward or loosely infolded, smooth or rough with stout projections, or sparsely soft and hairy, gradually narrowing to a slender apex.
Sheath is hairy
Yes
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
Yes
Ligule
Membranous and hairy
Auricles
Yes
Slim tridens is palatable and moderately nutritious. It is browsed by all classes of livestock and wildlife.