Native Plant Database

From the Image Gallery

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Grass/Grass-like
Root Type: Fibrous
Leaf Retention: Semi-evergreen
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Venation: Parallel
Breeding System: Flowers Unisexual , Dioecious
Inflorescence: Spike
Fruit Type: Caryopsis
Size Notes: 3 to 12 inches
Leaf: Gray-Green, Blue-Green
Fruit:
Size Class: 0-1 ft.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Jan , Feb , Mar , Oct , Nov , Dec

Distribution

USA: AR , AZ , CO , GA , IA , IL , KS , LA , MN , MO , MT , ND , NE , NM , NV , OK , SD , TX , UT , VA , WI , WY
Canada: MB , SK
Native Distribution: Manitoba and Saskatchewan south through the central plains states of the US as far south as Puebla in Mexico. Mostly west of the 97th meridian and east of the Rocky Mountains and desert regions.
Native Habitat: Prairies, plains, meadows, pastures, savannahs. A dominant grass in shortgrass prairie, understory in taller prairie.
USDA Native Status: L48(N), CAN(N)

Growing Conditions

Water Use: Low , Medium
Light Requirement: Sun
Soil Moisture: Dry
CaCO3 Tolerance: High
Drought Tolerance: High
Soil Description: Well-drained loam, clay, caliche, or limestone. Does not like sand.
Conditions Comments: Requires only one and a half inches of rain per month to stay green. Will go dormant during droughts and in winter.

Benefit

Use Ornamental: A soft, fine-leaved, low-maintenace, drought-tolerant turf grass that can be mowed. Many cultivars have been selected for lawn use, almost entirely male strains so there wont be seedheads.
Use Wildlife: Foliage cured on the ground furnishes winter browse for mammals. Seeds and leaves are food and nesting material for birds.
Interesting Foliage: yes
Attracts: Birds , Butterflies
Larval Host: Green Skipper butterfly.

Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA)

Bouteloua dactyloides is a larval host and/or nectar source for:

Green Skipper (Hesperia viridis) Larval Host Learn more at BAMONA

Propagation

Propagation Material: Seeds
Description: Sow treated seed from April to September, preferably in clay loam. If on caliche, sow thickly. Keep moist until established. Seed requires light for germination. Old seed germinates better than young seed.
Seed Treatment: Seeds should be cold-moist stratified at 40 degrees for six weeks.
Commercially Avail: yes
Maintenance: Buffalograss can be mowed once or twice per season to maintain height.

Find Seed or Plants

Order seed of this species from Native American Seed and help support the Wildflower Center.

Mr. Smarty Plants says

Native grasses for East Texas that require no mowing or watering
June 16, 2010
What native grass can I grow in deep East Texas that would require no supplemental watering and no mowing?
view the full question and answer

Native grasses for medians in Colorado Springs
June 11, 2010
Our city has stopped watering our historic landscaped medians due to severe budget shortfalls. The medians were historically tree boulevards but have had curb and gutter and blue grass added over th...
view the full question and answer

Will drought-stricken non-native St. Augustine come back in Cedar Park TX
January 30, 2010
I recently bought a new house but the grass in the yard looked completely dead (bought house in Nov) even though the neighbor's grass was still green. The previous owner stopped watering the grass (e...
view the full question and answer

Eliminating crabgrass in Middletown MO
September 28, 2009
Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I am having trouble with my lawn, specifically with the crabgrass in it. It now covers over 1/3 of it. I started using corn gluten meal this year, with limited tangible succ...
view the full question and answer

Curvularia blight in buffalograss in Kansas
March 05, 2009
Our buffalo grass is infected with a fungus called curvularia. How can we treat it?
view the full question and answer

From the National Organizations Directory

According to the species list provided by Affiliate Organizations, this plant is either on display or available from the following:

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Austin, TX
Sibley Nature Center - Midland, TX
Brackenridge Field Laboratory - Austin, TX
Patsy Glenn Refuge - Wimberley, TX
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department - Austin, TX
NPSOT - Austin Chapter - Austin, TX
National Butterfly Center - Mission, TX

Bibliography

Bibref 946 - Gardening with Prairie Plants: How to Create Beautiful Native Landscapes (2002) Wasowski, Sally
Bibref 318 - Native Texas Plants: Landscaping Region by Region (2002) Wasowski, S. & A. Wasowski
Bibref 291 - Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife (1999) Damude, N. & K.C. Bender
* The Midwestern Native Garden: Native Alternatives to Nonnative Flowers and Plants An Illustrated Guide (2011) Adelman, Charlotte and Schwartz, Bernard L.

Search More Titles in Bibliography

From the Archive

Wildflower Newsletter 1984 VOL. 1, NO.3 - Lady Bird Looks Forward to Fall\'s Activity, Gardeners Celebrate a Decade of Ope...
Wildflower Newsletter 1989 VOL. 6, NO.4 - Spring Climbs Rockies Slowly, Colorado Cooler, Conference of Wildflower and Nati...
Wildflower Newsletter 1992 VOL. 9, NO.1 - Research Update, Creating Native Lawn with Sod, Director's Report, What Makes Pl...
Wildflower Newsletter 1998 VOL. 15, NO.1 - Potentials and Challenges Designing with Native Plants, Announcement of Wildflow...
Wildflower Newsletter 1998 VOL. 15, NO.4 - Grasses from the Ground Up, Celebrating Wildflowers Hotline, Executive Director\...

Recommended Species Lists

Find native plant species by state. Each list contains commercially available species suitable for gardens and planned landscapes. Once you have selected a collection, you can browse the collection or search within it using the combination search.

View Recommended Species page

Additional resources

USDA: Find Bouteloua dactyloides in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Bouteloua dactyloides in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Bouteloua dactyloides