Xeriscape Landscaping Plants For The Arizona Desert Environment
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Grasses

Sideoats Grama, Bouteloua curtipendula

Sideoats Grama, Bouteloua curtipendula. Photo September 29, 2006. Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum

Sideoats Grama, Bouteloua curtipendula	Sideoats Grama, Bouteloua curtipendula
Sideoats Grama, Bouteloua curtipendula	Sideoats Grama, Bouteloua curtipendula

Sideoats Grama Bouteloua curtipendula, Grass Family ( Poaceae ) or ( Gramineae ), Sideoats Grama. Also called . Bouteloua curtipendula, sideoats grama, is a medium-size perennial bunchgrass, 15 to 30 inches tall or occasionally taller. This is the largest and most coarse of the grama grasses. It has a bluish-green color, sometimes with a purplish cast (especially in the spring), and cures to a reddish-brown or straw color. Its leaves are coarser than most other species of gramas, straight, comparatively stiff, and mostly basal. Its ten to thirty small, non-comb-like spikes are borne mostly along one side of each central seed stalk. These spikes drop when mature, leaving a long zigzaged stalk. Sideoats grama is especially noted for its distinctive arrangement of oat - like seed spikes which hang from only one side of its flowering stems. It typically occurs in glades, upland prairies, open rocky woodlands, and forest openings up to an elevation of about 7,000 feet in the U.S. and adjacent Canada and Mexico. Narrow, bluish-gray leaf blades (to 1/4" wide) typically form a dense clump growing 1 - 1 1/2 foot tall. Its foliage turns golden - brown in the autumn, sometimes developing hues of orange and red. Inflorescences of purplish-tinged flowers appear on arching stems above the foliage in early to mid summer, typically bringing the total height of the clump to 3' tall. Inflorescences fade to tan as the seeds mature. It is easily grown in average, dry to medium wet soils in the full sun. It tolerates a wide range of soil conditions from well-drained sandy soils to heavy clays. It can be grown from seed and may self-seed in the garden under optimum growing conditions. You should cut the clumps to the ground in the late winter. Sideoats grama is distributed throughout most of the United States. Perhaps, not in Nevada. Inflorescence: Inflorescences of purplish - tinged flowers. Height: Height normally about 15 to 30 inches tall or occasionally taller. Blooming Time: Late September - November. Leaves: Simple, bluish-gray leaf blades (to 1/4" wide), straight, comparatively stiff, and mostly basal. Elevation: 0 - 7,000 Feet. Habitat: Occurs naturally in limestone glades, upland prairies, and savannas. Tolerates wide range of soil conditions from well-drained sandy soils to heavy clays. A Xeriscape Landscape plant. Native of the U.S. and adjacent Canada and Mexico. Miscellaneous: Photos Taken At Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum. Photo Taken September 29, 2006.