''Bouteloua hirsuta'', commonly known as hairy grama, is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...

short

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

grass that is native throughout much of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, including the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...

and

Canadian Prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

region, as well as

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

Description

''B. hirsuta'' is a warm-season grass growing 10–20 in (0.2-0.5 m tall, and grows well on mountainous plateaus, rocky slopes, and sandy plains. The leaf blade is flat or slightly rolled, narrow, mostly basal, with hairy margins. The leaf sheath is rounded, smooth, and shorter than internodes. The seedhead is one to four spikes, purplish before maturity, about 1 in (2.5 cm) long; the rachis extends beyond spikelets. It is used primarily for grazing.

Distribution

Hairy grama prefers rocky slopes, as well as dry yet sandy areas between .

References

External links

* * * * Beetle, A. A. 1970. Recommended plant names. Univ. Wyoming Agr. Exp. Sta. Res. J. 31. * Cronquist, A. et al. 1972–. Intermountain flora. * Davidse, G. et al., eds. 1994. Flora mesoamericana. * FNA Editorial Committee. 1993–. Flora of North America. * Gould, F. W. 1979. The genus Bouteloua (Poaceae). Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 66:394. * Herrera A., Y. et al. 2004. Revisión de Bouteloua Lag. (Poaceae). * Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. * Mejía-Saulés, M. T. & P. Dávila A. 1992. Gramíneas Útiles de México. Cuad. Inst. Biol. 16. hirsuta Grasses of North America Warm-season grasses of North America Grasses of Canada Grasses of Mexico Grasses of the United States Native grasses of the Great Plains region Flora of the United States Flora of the Canadian Prairies Flora of Western Canada Native grasses of Nebraska Native grasses of Oklahoma Native grasses of Texas Flora of Mexico Flora of Guatemala Flora of the Chihuahuan Desert Flora of the Mexican Plateau Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Chloridoideae-stub