| Bouteloua barbata | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Genus: | Bouteloua |
| Species: | B. barbata |
| Binomial name | |
| Bouteloua barbata | |
Bouteloua barbata is a species of grass known by the common name six-weeks grama native to North America.
It is native to North America, where it occurs in the southwestern United States and south to Oaxaca in southern Mexico. It may occur in Montana. [1] [2] It is also present in Argentina. [1]
This species is an annual or perennial grass producing tufts of stems up to 30 to 75 cm (12 to 30 in) long, [1] [2] lying prostrate, spreading, or standing erect. The inflorescence has up to 11 branches, [2] each a dense row of up to 40 spikelets. The fruit weighs about 0.03 milligrams. This lightweight seed is dispersed on the wind and by animals. It is annual or perennial, sprouting from seed or from its root crown after summer rainfall. Flowering usually begins around July and lasts until October. [1] There are three varieties of this species. The var. barbata is an annual plant with decumbent stems that may root at stem nodes, var. rothrockii, sometimes considered a separate species, is perennial with erect stems, and var. sonorae, which is limited to northern Mexico, spreads via stolons. [2]
Bouteloua barbata var. barbata grows in many types of habitat including prairie, grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodland, chaparral, creosote, shrubsteppe, savanna, and Ponderosa pine forest, while B. barbata var. rothrockii occurs primarily in subtropical grasslands and adjacent desertscrub, thornscrub, or riparian. [3] The former grows in the deserts of the American southwest and Mexico, including the Colorado, Mojave, and Chihuahuan Deserts, and the latter is restricted to the Sonoran Desert. They can also be found in dry disturbed habitats such as roadsides, railroads, and overgrazed pastures. [1]
While it is palatable, this grass is not considered a good forage for livestock, as it is a small plant and is green for a short time. Many types of other animals utilize it, however. Many birds, and small animals including prairie dogs and desert kangaroo rats eat the seeds of this and other grama grasses. Harvester ants in Arizona also eat the seeds of this species. [1]
The Chihuahuan Desert is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower Pecos Valley in New Mexico, and a portion of southeastern Arizona, as well as the central and northern portions of the Mexican Plateau. It is bordered on the west by the Sonoran Desert, the Colorado Plateau, and the extensive Sierra Madre Occidental range, along with northwestern lowlands of the Sierra Madre Oriental range. Its largest, continual expanse is located in Mexico, covering a large portion of the state of Chihuahua, along with portions of Coahuila, north-eastern Durango, the extreme northern part of Zacatecas, and small western portions of Nuevo León. With an area of about 501,896 km2 (193,783 sq mi), it is the largest desert in North America. The desert is fairly young, existing for only 8000 years.
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.
Bouteloua gracilis, the blue grama, is a long-lived, warm-season (C4) perennial grass, native to North America.
Bouteloua is a genus of plants in the grass family. Members of the genus are commonly known as grama grass.
Bouteloua dactyloides, commonly known as buffalograss or buffalo grass, is a North American prairie grass native to Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It is a shortgrass found mainly on the High Plains and is co-dominant with blue grama over most of the shortgrass prairie.
Ord's kangaroo rat is a kangaroo rat native to western North America, specifically the Great Plains and the Great Basin, with its range extending from extreme southern Canada to central Mexico.
The shortgrass prairie is an ecosystem located in the Great Plains of North America. The two most dominant grasses in the shortgrass prairie are blue grama and buffalograss, the two less dominant grasses in the prairie are greasegrass and sideoats grama. The prairie was formerly maintained by grazing pressure of American bison, which is the keystone species. Due to its semiarid climate, the shortgrass prairie receives on average less precipitation than that of the tall and mixed grass prairies to the east.
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial plants, most species live more than one season. Tussock grasses are often found as forage in pastures and ornamental grasses in gardens.
Sclerocactus papyracanthus is a species of cactus known by the common names paperspine fishhook cactus, grama grass cactus, paper-spined cactus, and toumeya. It is native to North America, where it occurs from Arizona to New Mexico to Texas and into Chihuahua, Northeastern Mexico.
Dalea purpurea is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known as purple prairie clover. Native to central North America, purple prairie clover is a relatively common member of the Great Plains and prairie ecosystems. It blooms in the summer with dense spikes of bright purple flowers that attract many species of insects.
Liatris punctata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names dotted gayfeather, dotted blazingstar, and narrow-leaved blazingstar. It is native to North America, where it occurs throughout the plains of central Canada, the central United States, and northern Mexico.
Calamovilfa longifolia is a species of grass known by the common names prairie sandreed and sand reedgrass. It is native to North America, where it occurs from the Northwest Territories to Ontario in Canada and as far south as New Mexico and Kansas in the United States. There are two varieties, var. longifolia being widespread in the species' range and var. magna being native to the Great Lakes region.
Carex inops is a species of sedge known as long-stolon sedge and western oak sedge. It is native to northern North America, where it occurs throughout the southern half of Canada and the western and central United States.
Elymus lanceolatus is a species of grass known by the common names thickspike wheatgrass and streamside wheatgrass. It is native to North America, where it is widespread and abundant in much of Canada and the western and central United States. There are two subspecies, subsp. lanceolatus occurring throughout the species' range and subsp. psammophilus occurring in the Great Lakes region.
Hilaria belangeri is a species of grass known by the common name curly mesquite, sometimes written curlymesquite or curly-mesquite. It is not related to mesquites, which are legumes. This grass is native to Mexico and the southwestern United States from Arizona to Texas.
Muhlenbergia cuspidata is a species of grass known by the common name plains muhly. It is native to North America where it is distributed across central Canada and the central United States.
Hilaria mutica, synonym Pleuraphis mutica, is a species of grass known by the common name tobosa, or tobosa grass. It is native to Northern Mexico, and the Southwestern United States, in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Poa fendleriana is a species of grass known by the common name muttongrass. It is native to western North America, where its distribution extends from western Canada to northern Mexico.
Bouteloua chondrosioides, commonly known as sprucetop grama, is a perennial bunchgrass native to southern Arizona and northern Mexico.
Bouteloua parryi, colloquially known as Parry's grama, is a grass species in the grama genus native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
