Spike trisetum is a densely tufted perennial grass, which varies considerably 

 in general appearance. However, it is easily recognized by its spikelike heads to 

 which the tine, bent awns give a fuzzy appearance. Specimens from alpine 

 situations are usually short, with thick stems and heads and densely hairy 

 stems and leaves, in decided contrast to die taller, often nearly hairless plant, 

 with slender steins and heads, of the lower altitudes. 



This species is widely distributed in the mountainous regions of North 

 America, Europe, and Australia and occurs in all the Western States, where it 

 is typical of open, moist, alpine, and subalpine sites. However, it has a wide 

 altitudinal range, and also occurs on dry soils, and in varying degrees of shade, 

 among shrubs, aspen, oi>en spruce, lodgepole pine, and ponderosa pine. It 

 grows at elevations of from 7,500 feet to 13,000 feet in Colorado and extends 

 down to an altitude of 6,000 feet in Utah. Spike trisetum ranges between 

 5,000 and 10,000 feet in California, and between 2,500 and 7,000 feet in Wash- 

 ington and Oregon. This grass is a common constituent of old burns and cut- 

 over lands, but practically never occurs in dense, pure stands. However, from 

 the standpoint of wide and general distribution over the western mountain 

 ranges, spike trisetum ranks among the first four or five grass species. 



The palatability of spike trisetum varies markedly in different regions, it 

 being regarded as good to very good forage in the Northwest, where it is classed 

 as somewhat more palatable to cattle and horses than to sheep. In California, 

 where it is common in the higher mountains, it is relished by livestock, little 

 being left even on areas not pastured until in the autumn. 1 In the Rocky 

 Mountains from Montana southward this forage rates as fairly good to good for 

 cattle and horses, and poor to fairly good for sheep. Growth begins early in 

 the spring, and the plants remain green late in the fall. Presumably the 

 grass is more readily grazed early in the season before the heads develop, and 

 again in the fall after most other sj>ecies are dry. Ordinarily, only a rela- 

 tively limited amount of seed of low viability is produced. Dr. Sampson, 2 in 

 his bulletin on range plants from which the illustration accompanying this 

 article was taken, states that in the Blue Mountains region of northeastern 

 Oregon seeds of this species ordinarily do not begin to ripen before about August 

 25, and generally are not all matured before inclement weather prevents further 

 development. As a result, viable seed are produced only on the earliest flower- 

 ing stalks and, in the tests made, had a very low germination percent. "In 

 1907 the seed crop averaged 11 percent germination, and in 1909 28 percent." 

 The plants, however, stool well and are resistant to trampling and considerable 

 close grazing. 



TRISETUMS (Trise'tum spp.) 



Trisetum is a genus of perennial or rarely annual grasses, widely distrib- 

 uted in the temi>erate and cooler or mountain regions of both the Northern 

 and Southern Hemispheres. The name is derived from Latin tri, three, and 

 setum, bristle, alluding to the three bristles (awns), which are borne on the 

 outer flower bracts (lemmas) of many species. The awns of some species are 

 very short and are hidden by the bracts of the spikelet; by some authors, 

 those species are considered a distinct genus G-raphcpIionim. The only com- 

 mon species of this type in the western United States is Wolf trisetum (Tri- 

 ne' turn, irolf'ii, syns. T. brande' gel, Graphe'pliorum mn'tioum). 



The species of trisetum found in the Western States have similar palata- 

 bility and are all fairly good to good forage, although somewhat less palatable 

 to sheep than to cattle and horses. 



Trisetums belong to the oat tribe of grasses (Aveneae). The leaves are 

 usually flat, and the flower heads are narrow and spikelike or somewhat open, 

 with numerous, small, three- to five-flowered individual flower groups (spike- 

 lets). The lowest (2) spikelet bracts (glumes) are unequal, sharp-pointed, 

 and without awns, the second glume commonly being longer than the lowest 

 lemma of each spikelet. Generally, the lemmas are short-hairy at the base, 

 two-toothed at apex, and bear short, straight awns or longer, bent, and twisted 

 awns from the back below the tip and between the teeth. The teeth of the 

 lemma are themselves also frequently elongated into awns. 



1 Sampson. A. W.. and Chase. A. RANGE GRASSES OF CALIFORNIA. Calif. Agr. Expt. 

 Sta. Bull. 430, 94 pp., illus. 1927. 



3 Sampson, A. W. IMPORTANT RANGE PLANTS : THEIR LIFE HISTORY AND FORAGE A'ALUE. 

 U. S. Dcpt. AST. Bull. 545, 63 pp., illus. 1917. 



