Single Record
Participant Info
- Species
- Bouteloua gracilis [Bouteloua oligostachyus] [Chondrosum gracile]
- Family
- Poaceae
- CommonName
- blue grama, eyelash grama
- Presence
- yes
- Status
- native
- EarliestDate
- 1892
- LatestDate
- 2025
- Ecosystem
- shrubland, foothill, montane, ruderal, urban, sanddunes
- Geobotanical
- SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos, UBasin, LBasin
- Counties
- Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache, Archuleta, San Juan
- Passes
- WildlifePreserves
- Baca
- Other Localities
- Alamosa (town), La Botica, Del Norte
- Comments
- Perennial and warm-season, blue grama is a common and wide spread grass throughout the Watershed, ranging from basin to montane. It leaks into driveways and alleyways of towns. The USA distribution ranges from the Canadian to the Mexican border and from the desert Southwest to the Great Plains. Bouteloua gracilis follows the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico (where it is present in all counties) and through Texas almost to the Gulf. Note that the grain was an important source of flour for Amerindian tribes. Also note that a questionable taxonomic key character are the bulbous-based hairs on the upper glume and the leaf blade near the ligule, since they are not always present in specimens of B. gracilis and are also sometimes present in B. hirsuta. For the adaptation of B. gracilis to severe drought, see the photographs here from Rio Grande County, dated November, 2025.
- Annotation