Gramas

The gramas are most common in rangelands of the western Great Plains of the USA and Canada and the desert grasslands of Mexico and the southwestern USA. This chapter focuses on different of the most widespread and economically important perennial gramas. Blue grama plants usually are tufted bunchgrasses that produce numerous lateral tillers or short rhizomes. Natural regeneration of blue grama from seed on rangelands and complete recovery after severe disturbance may require 50 or more years. Environmental requirements for adventitious root development complicate establishment of blue grama seedlings. Sideoats grama occurs naturally in grasslands, shrublands, forests, and deserts and is one of the most widely distributed warm-season grass species in the Western Hemisphere. Black grama plants are tufted, with a hard, basal crown and typically develop arching, wiry stolons that may produce a tangled sod, although individual plants are often scattered and behave as bunchgrasses.