Bouteloua gracilis

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Blue grama

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Bouteloua
Species:
B. gracilis
Binomial name
Bouteloua gracilis

Bouteloua gracilis, the blue grama, is a long-lived, warm-season (

grass, native to North America.[2][4][5]

It is most commonly found from

Midwest states, onto the northern Mexican Plateau in Mexico
.

Blue grama accounts for most of the net

primary productivity in the shortgrass prairie of the central and southern Great Plains. It is a green or greyish, low-growing, drought-tolerant grass with limited maintenance.[6]

Description

Blue grama grass in early summer
The comb-like spike in bloom in August, with white stigmas sticking out of the top and yellow anthers hanging below
Mature spikelets that have detached from the spike. Each may contain a seed.

Blue grama has green to greyish leaves less than 3 mm (0.1 in) wide and 1 to 10 in (25 to 250 mm) long. The overall height of the plant is 6 to 12 in (15 to 30 cm) at maturity.[7]

The flowering stems (

lemma (bract) 5 to 5.5 mm (0.20 to 0.22 in) long, with three short awns (bristles) at the tip, and the sterile floret has a lemma about 2 mm (0.08 in) long with three awns about 5 mm (0.2 in) long.[8][10] If pollinated, the fertile floret produces an oblong-elliptic brown seed 2.5 to 3 mm (0.10 to 0.12 in) long.[11]
When the seed is mature, the whole spikelet detaches, except for the two glumes, which remain.

The roots generally grow 12 to 18 in (30 to 46 cm) outwards, and 3 to 6.5 ft (0.9 to 2.0 m) deep.[7]

Blue grama is readily established from

adventitious roots.[7]

Established plants are

seral to climax species. Recovery following disturbance is slow and depends on the type and extent of the disturbance.[7]

Distribution

Blue grama has the widest distribution of all grama grasses. It will grow on most soil types, and readily adapts to local conditions. It can be found as far north as Alberta, and as far south as Mexico. It is present in most of the Midwestern United States, extending east to Missouri and Texas, and as far west as Southern California. It has been introduced to some eastern states, as well as South America.[12]

Horticulture and agriculture

Blue grama is valued as forage, and is the most valuable grama. It is an ideal range grass in the southwest. It will survive heavy grazing and extreme drought, and is quite palatable to livestock.[12] Grazing of blue grama rangelands might also prevent invasion of undesirable weedy plants.[13]

Blue grama is grown by the

state grass of Colorado and New Mexico. It is listed as an endangered species in Illinois.[2]

Blue grama has a large genome relative to other grama grasses.[14] It can be diploid or tetraploid.[15]

Among the

Costanoan, or Ohlone, use(d) the hollow stems as drinking straws.[17] The Navajo use(d) it as sheep and horse feed.[18]

Ecology

Blue grama is the dominant species of the US shortgrass steppe ecoregion.[19][20] Populations of blue grama across the great plains are genetically differentiated (even at small spatial scales) and show functional trait variance connected to climate.[21][22][15] Blue grama from more arid grasslands are also characterized by greater phenotypic plasticity.[21]

It is a larval host to the

Uncas skipper.[23]

References

  1. ^ NatureServe (2023). "Bouteloua gracilis Blue Grama". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b c USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Bouteloua gracilis". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team.
  3. ^ "Bouteloua gracilis". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens.
  4. ^ "Bouteloua gracilis". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  5. ^ "Bouteloua gracilis". State-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  6. Montana University Extension Service. Archived from the original
    on June 10, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Anderson, Michelle D. (2003). "Bouteloua gracilis". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  8. ^ a b Sun, Bi-xing; Phillips, Sylvia M. "Bouteloua gracilis". Flora of China. Vol. 22 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  9. ^ a b Hilty, John (2020). "Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis)". Illinois Wildflowers.
  10. ^ Sun, Bi-xing; Phillips, Sylvia M. "Bouteloua". Flora of China. Vol. 22 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  11. ^ Chayka, Katy; Dziuk, Peter (2016). "Bouteloua gracilis (Blue Grama)". Minnesota Wildflowers.
  12. ^ a b Gould, Frank W. (1951). Grasses of Southwestern United States. Tucson: University of Arizona. p. 146. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  13. S2CID 90458063
    .
  14. doi:10.1006/anbo.2000.1253
    .
  15. ^
    S2CID 18031688
    .
  16. ^ Stevenson, Matilda Coxe (1915). "Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians". SI-BAE Annual Report #30. p. 83.
  17. S2CID 21852804
    .
  18. ^ Elmore, Francis H. (1944). Ethnobotany of the Navajo. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research. p. 25.
  19. OCLC 690360063. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  20. doi:10.1111/j.1654-1103.2009.05556.x
    .
  21. ^
    PMID 32176814
    .
  22. S2CID 44199283
    .
  23. ^ The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bouteloua gracilis.
Wikispecies has information related to Bouteloua gracilis.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bouteloua_gracilis&oldid=1152385078"