G25 

 GRAMAS 



Boutelou'a spp. 



The gramas which clothe thousands of square miles of the Great 

 Plains and are the principal plants in the so-called buffalo grass or 

 short grass association, grow exclusively in the Western Hemisphere. 



The Spanish conquistadores, finding extensive areas of Bouteloua 

 species in the tablelands of central Mexico, called them grama 

 (literally, grass), probably because the flaglike spikes reminded them 

 of the familiar related grama of Spain (what we call Bermuda 

 grass). The name is now well established for the entire genus 

 Bouteloua. Gramas occur in all the Western States except Wash- 

 ington and Oregon but are most abundant in the Southwest, espe- 

 cially in Arizona and New Mexico. They thrive chiefly on dry sites 

 and at low elevations, and only rarely extend above the ponderosa 

 pine zone. They also occur in greater or less abundance in the 

 eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains from southern Canada 

 southward, in southern and eastern Utah, western Colorado, and in 

 many of the warmer sections of California and the Intermountain 

 Region. 



In the Southwest the gramas are one of the mainstays of the 

 range and furnish more forage than any rival plant at altitudes from 

 the lowlands and dry mesas up to about 7,500 feet elevation. Most 

 species are relished by all classes of livestock and withstand heavy 

 grazing, and many of them rank as good to excellent forage plants. 

 The gramas, however, produce very little spring forage; their main 

 growth is chiefly dependent upon the amount of moisture available 

 after the advent of warm, summer weather, and during drought 

 years it may be practically negligible. 



Certain species of gramas are easily distinguished from other com- 

 mon western range grasses by their characteristic (mostly few) flag- 

 like spikes or seed clusters (as shown in the illustrations of black 

 and blue gramas). Other species have an entirety different-looking 

 inflorescence with many small flower clusters (spikes) as shown in 

 the illustration of side-oats grama. In all gramas, the individual 

 flower groups (spikelets) are small and single-flowered, with rudi- 

 ments of one or more individual flowers (florets) above, arranged 

 in two rows along one side of a more or less curved axis, forming 

 spikes. 



The gramas are excellent soil binders and aid materially in curbing 

 erosion. They seldom form a complete sod but, in most of their 

 habitats, grow typically in patches. 



The genus was named by the illustrious Spanish botanist Mariano 

 Lagasca (1776-1839) in honor of two contemporary Spanish 

 gardeners, Claudio and Esteban Boutelou. 



