Bouteloua trifida
Three-awned grama, Three-Awned Grama
(c) Annika Lindqvist, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Annika Lindqvist · licence
Family: Poaceae · Type: Grass · Native
Conservation status: CNPS 2B.3
Bouteloua trifida (Three-awned grama) is a native California grass in the Poaceae family.
Three-awned grama is a native perennial grass found in northern and eastern Mojave Desert Mountains, primarily on dry, rocky, generally calcareous slopes and washes at elevations of 200 to 1,600 meters. Flowering from March to September, this delicate grass produces small ascending spikelets with pale green to tan flowers. Growing with ascending to erect stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it sometimes develops short rhizomes and can occasionally flower in its first year. Its narrow leaves are typically less than 5 centimeters long and extremely slender, measuring less than 1.5 millimeters wide. Each plant produces distinctive branch clusters with 8 to 24 spikelets, characterized by short awns 2 to 8 millimeters long emerging from the grass blades.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 0 sympatric species; geographically isolated in northern/eastern Mojave Desert mountains
Habitat and range
Habitat: Dry, rocky, generally calcareous slopes, crevices, washes, scrub
Elevation: 200-1600 m
California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Riverside
Outside California: to Utah, Texas, central Mexico
Bloom period
Bouteloua trifida blooms Mar-Sep.
Conservation status
CNPS 2B.3
How to tell it apart
vs Cenchrus: Bouteloua has one-sided comb-like spikes; Cenchrus has spiny burs around the spikelets.; vs Melica: Bouteloua has spikelets on one side only; Melica has spikelets all around the branches.; vs Avena: Bouteloua has tiny comb-like spikes; Avena has large, dangling spikelets in open clusters.; vs Ehrharta: Bouteloua has 3-veined lemmas; Ehrharta has hardened sterile lemmas below the fertile one.; vs Hordeum: Bouteloua has one-sided brush spikes; Hordeum has cylindrical spikes with bristly glumes all around.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bouteloua trifida native to California?
Yes. Bouteloua trifida is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Bouteloua trifida bloom?
Bouteloua trifida blooms Mar-Sep.
Where in California does Bouteloua trifida grow?
Bouteloua trifida occurs in San Bernardino, Inyo, Riverside, at elevations of 200-1600 m.
What plant family does Bouteloua trifida belong to?
Bouteloua trifida is in the Poaceae family, genus Bouteloua.
Is Bouteloua trifida rare or endangered?
Bouteloua trifida carries California Rare Plant Rank 2B.3, state rank S3.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
- Bouteloua aristidoides var. aristidoides — Needle grama
- Bouteloua barbata var. barbata — Sixweeks grama
- Bouteloua curtipendula — Side-oats grama
- Bouteloua eriopoda — Black grama
- Bouteloua gracilis — Blue grama
- Bouteloua sp. — Grama
- Brachypodium distachyon — False brome
- Brachypodium pinnatum — Heath false brome
- Brachypodium sp. — False brome
- Brachypodium sylvaticum — Slender false brome
Sources: Jepson eFlora · CNPS Rare Plant Inventory · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos · CDFW CNDDB
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.