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Bouteloua gracilis

Authority (Willd. ex Kunth) Lagasca ex Griffiths) Family Liliopsida:Commelinidae:Cyperales:Gramineae Synonyms Common names Editor Ecocrop code 3798

Notes
DESCRIPTION: A bunch grass with narrow, primarily basal leaves and erect culms up to 20-60 cm tall. Leaf blades are 5-25 cm long, 3-5 mm wide, tapering at the ends. Roots of blue grama are fibrous, but they are often sod forming from short, scaly rhizomes. Most roots occur in the upper 35-75 cm of the soil, with a few coarser roots extending to depths of 1.5-1.8m. GROWING PERIOD: Perennial. USE: Grown for forage. Magnesium and calcium levels decrease throughout the growing season. By September, crude protein content declined about 46%, and by the end of October it had declined 66%. COMMON NAMES: Blue grama. FURTHER INF: It occurs in the short grass region in the United States from Canada to Texas through Mexico into Central and South America. It is common in mixed grass prairie, and is occasionally found on drier sites and parkland regions. It grows well on sandy loam, sandy, or gravelly soils. It does not grow in wet, poorly drained soils. It does not tolerate shade, flooding, a high water table or acid soils. Photosynthetic pathway is C4.
Sources
SOURCES (B. gracilis (Willd. ex H.B.K.) Lag. ex Griffiths) Roecklein J 1987 pp 143 [USE, LIG] Duke J 1979 pp 94 [PH, RAIN, TEMP] Heath M 1985 pp 181 [USE] Kernick M 1961 pp 38 [PHO] Duke J 1975 pp 9 [PH, RAIN, TEMP]