Red Grama
Bouteloua trifida
Maricopa Mountains, Arizona, USA on 6 March 2010. Created using a flat-bed scanner.
PERENNIAL GRASS: A small perennial grass rarely taller than
20 cm with new growth and flowering after good precipitation.
RANGE: Can be found on rocky slopes through much of the Sonoran Desert
but is often hard to see.
LEAVES: Leaf blades are short (< 5 cm) and barely more than 1 mm
wide.
SPIKES: Five to seven ascending side branches of the infloresence lie
close to the main stem and may appear to twirl around it. The spikelets are
reddish-purple and have three short awns at tip of each floret.
UNARMED