Western Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Trisetum spicatum (L.) Richter
- Family: Grass (Gramineae)
- Flowering: July-September
- Field Marks: This tufted, hairy grass has spike-like panicles 1-6 inches long. The usually 2-flowered spikelets have lemmas with an awn that arises just below the tip of the lemma.
- Habitat: Wet meadows, particularly in the high mountains.
- Habit: Tufted perennial grass with fibrous roots.
- Stems: Upright, unbranched, hollow, up to 2 feet tall, smooth or hairy.
- Leaves: Elongated, flat or folded, up to 1/4 inch wide, usually hairy; ligules up to 1/6 inch long, ciliate, jagged at the tip.
- Flowers: Borne in spikelets, the spikelets crowded into spike-like panicles 1-6 inches long; spikelets usually 2-flowered (sometimes 3),1/6-1/4 inch long, purplish to silvery; lemmas notched at the tip, with an awn arising just below the notch,
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Ovary superior, smooth.
- Grains: Ellipsoid, smooth.
- Notes: This grass is an important forage species for domestic cattle in the high mountains.
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