Summary ⁶

Bouteloua curtipendula, commonly known as sideoats grama, is a perennial, short prairie grass that is native throughout the temperate and tropical Western Hemisphere, from Canada south to Argentina.

Description ⁷

General: Side-oats grama is a deep rooted, perennial grass. The plants crown will spread very slowly by means of extremely short, stout rhizomes. A mid-grass in height, it has rather wide leaves and a very distinct inflorescence consisting of a zigzag stalk with small compressed spikes dangling from it at even intervals. The short spikes dangle from one side of the stalk, thus providing the plant with its common name. In the vegetative state the grass is easily recognized by the long, evenly spaced hairs attached to the margins of the leaf near its base. Side-oats grama possesses the C-4 photosynthetic pathway common to warm-season grasses (Waller and Lewis, 1979).

Distribution: For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site. One of the most widely distributed of the grama grasses. It has a widespread distribution eastward from the Rocky Mountains to near the east coast except in the southeast.

Habitat: Side-oats grama grows effectively in the dryer mid-grass prairie section of the Great Plains that has an annual rainfall of 12-20 inches. This species occurs naturally in mixed stands with blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium). This grass is better adapted to calcareous and moderately alkaline soils than to neutral or acidic soils (Leithead etal., 1971)

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Tony Ernst, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/gamelaner/14958959894/
2. (c) Matt Lavin, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/plant_diversity/4087121705/
3. (c) Matt Lavin, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/plant_diversity/3796749425/
4. (c) Matt Lavin, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/plant_diversity/3797570094/
5. (c) orum, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
6. Adapted by Amber Leung from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouteloua_curtipendula
7. Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/1379025

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
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• eFloras.org
• Encyclopedia of Earth
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• Go Botany
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Jepson eFlora
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

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