Arizona Range Grasses
Their Description, Forage Value, and Grazing Management
Cooperative Extension,College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, The University of Arizona

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SLIM TRIDENS
Tridens muticus (Torr.) Nash

Figure 73.—Slim tridens (Tridens muticus) View Larger Image Click Here

Description

Growth habit: A small, perennial bunchgrass, 12 to 15 inches high, narrow in outline.
Color: Light bluish-green, curing to a light straw yellow.
Leaves: Three to 5 inches long, about 1/8, inch wide, rolled in at the edges.
Inflorescence: Seeds are borne in narrow, cocoon-like clusters on long, thin stalks, leafy for almost their entire length. When immature, the outer scales of these clusters are purple with white upper edges. These scales overlap very closely, giving the spikelets a scaly appearance. When mature, the seeds drop off, leaving a pair of paperlike awns that persist throughout the year.
Season: Warm Season
Origin: Nativ

Occurrence

All counties except Apache, Graham, Greenlee, Navajo, and Maricopa up to an elevation of about 5,500 feet. It grows commonly on rocky hillsides intermixed with shrubs and other grasses.

Forage Value

Fair to good forage for all classes of livestock and other grazing animals. The plants are usually scattered and seldom make up a large percentage of the total forage produced on a range.

Grazing Management

As slim tridens usually makes up a minor portion of the forage on a range, management should be based largely on requirements of the associated species. This grass and those associated with it grow and should be grazed primarily from July through September with periodic summer deferment.

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Document located http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/natresources/az1272/
published 2002
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