Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Carolina Fluffgrass - Tridens carolinianus   (Steudel) Henrard
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Section 5 » Order Cyperales » Family Poaceae
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Author(Steudel) Henrard
DistributionAlmost exclusively in the Sandhills. A 1950 specimen from Brunswick County was collected from a live oak forest between Long Beach and Fort Caswell. The population in Montgomery County occurs at the southeastern edge of the Piedmont in a community with Longleaf Pine.

NC to central FL and western LA.
AbundanceUncommon in the Sandhills, but very rare to rare southeast to the coast. This is a Watch List species. Most populations number less than 20 plants, but one in Hoke County has 100+.
HabitatMesic to dry, loamy sand soil of bean dips (slight depressions dominated by legumes) and flats within Longleaf Pine--Wiregrass uplands.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting mid August-October.
IdentificationThis grass looks at a distance like a very skinny stick. It grows from thick scaly rhizomes, the stems 2.5-5 feet tall, with relatively few, mostly basal, slender leaves. The inflorescence is 3-6 inches long and less than 1.5 inches wide, with all branches short and rather appressed to the stem. The spikelets are a pale greenish brownish color.
Taxonomic CommentsNone

Other Common Name(s)Carolina Triodia
State RankS3
Global RankG3G4
State StatusW1
US Status
USACE-agcp
USACE-emp
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B.A. SorrieRichmond County, same data. Basal leaves. RichmondPhoto_natural
B.A. SorrieRichmond County, 2014, Sandhills Game Land, loamy sand flats and pea swales. RichmondPhoto_natural
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