Summary ⁷

Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama) is a long-lived, warm-season perennial grass, native to North America. It is a green or greyish, low-growing, drought-tolerant grass with limited maintenance.

Botanical Information ⁸

The plant Bouteloua gracilis also know as Blue Grama is a long thin type of grass that lives on plains across North America in most of the United States and part of Canada. This plant grows in the warm season.

Ecological Information ⁸

If you’re in the wild you can find them on moist soil, and especially in places that are partly shaded.

Ethnobotanical Information ⁹

There are parts of the plant that could be used as a medicinal source. The chewed roots can be applied to cuts. The parts that are edible are the seeds. The seeds need to be ground into a powder then you add water and can be eaten as a mush.

References ¹⁰

eol.org/pages/1114807/details
plants.USOA.usda

About the Author ¹¹

Student author(s)*: Jesus and Brandon (age 13) from South Valley Academy

*The entries in this field guide have been edited by Yerba Mansa Project staff to ensure that they contain quality, fact-checked content and standardized formatting.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Matt Lavin, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/plant_diversity/6243882531/
2. (c) Matt Lavin, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/plant_diversity/3797541996/
3. (c) Louis, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/60477053@N00/3157520979
4. (c) Patrick Alexander, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/aspidoscelis/14293942926/
5. (c) John Rusk, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_d_rusk/28986640830/
6. (c) John Rusk, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_d_rusk/29196215791/
7. Adapted by caseynm from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouteloua_gracilis
8. Adapted by smiller33 from a work by (c) kristen_himm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
9. (c) smiller33, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
10. Adapted by smiller33 from a work by (c) caseynm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
11. (c) caseynm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Calflora
• CalPhotos
• eFloras.org
• 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
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• OregonFlora.org
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

Range Map

(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

iNat Map