''Bouteloua trifida'' is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

known by the common name red grama. It is native to central and northern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

, where it grows in

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

scrub and other dry areas. This is a small perennial grass growing up to about 30 centimeters in maximum height. It occasionally grows a small

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

. The thready leaves are no more than 5 centimeters long. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

bears widely spaced spikelets which are reddish purple in color. Each spikelet has three awns at the tip. Typically it flowers between March and September.

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
trifida Native grasses of California Grasses of Mexico Grasses of the United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the California desert regions Flora of Northwestern Mexico Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Chloridoideae-stub