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Blue Grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis) (HBK) Lag. Ex Steud. Heather Stewart and Karen Moores Photo Credit [Marie Fontaine] Imagine encountering a grass that resembles a small blue toothbrush! As unlikely as it sounds, that is what Blue Grama grass looks like. This grass occurs in the southern interior of British Columbia, as well as along the southern section of the Alberta and British Columbia border. Blue Grama grass is rare in B.C., due in part to a general decline in natural grassland habitat in the province, and in part to specialized environmental requirements. It has been RED LISTED in British Columbia by the Conservation Data Centre (CDC). Bouteloua gracilis (Boo-til-loo-ah gra-cil-iss) is named after Claudio Boutelou (1774-1842). Claudio was a professor of agriculture in Madrid. Gracilis is a Latin word meaning slender, thin or slim -- referring to the leaves. What Does It Look Like? Blue Grama grass is a tufted, mat-forming, perennial grass that is 20 to 40 cm tall, with slender stems arising out of a short rhizome (root/stem). It can be distinguished by its dense, curved inflorescence (brush-like) with 20-80 spikelets per branch. These purplish spikelets are located in two rows on one side of the stem. Each spikelet is approximately 5-6 mm long. The narrow leaves grow from the base of the plant, and are twisted or curled. The leaf edges can be either flat or rolled inward (like a straw). The grass begins to flower during early summer, and seeds germinate in spring when adequate surface moisture facilitates germination and initial root growth. A second moist period (about two to eight weeks after germination) is required to develop adventitious roots. Where Does It Grow? This grass is commonly found growing in dry, open habitats in basic saline soil with various textures. Though considered one of the most drought-resistant species of grass, Blue Grama requires periodic summer rains for seed germination and seedling establishment. It becomes dormant during drought, but quickly revives with moisture. The area west of the Rocky Mountains is influenced by the flow of dry Pacific air in the summer, and is in the rain shadow of the Cascade mountains. This results in less summer rainfall compared to areas east of the Rocky Mountains where Blue Grama grass is common, and summer rains occur. There have only been seven locations of Blue Grama grass found in British Columbia. Of these seven, four locations are in the Kootenay region in the Rocky Mountain Trench. These locations are hot dry areas with just enough local moisture seeping through the soil to duplicate conditions east of the Rockies. Photo Credit [Marie Fontaine] The unique pockets of Blue Grama habitat in the Kootenays represent a much larger short-grass prairie to the east and south of British Columbia. The populations of Blue Grama grass located in the Kootenay region are a mere remnant of what was probably a more widespread native grassland habitat in British Columbia. None of the populations of Blue Grama grass documented in this report are in protected sites. The most northern edge of distribution of Blue Grama grass is in Alberta along the North Saskatchewan River near Edmonton. Other northern-most population boundaries are found at McKague, Saskatchewan and at Bield, Manitoba. Blue Grama grass is a component of the short-grass prairie that stretches east and south from the Rockies from the Nebraska panhandle and southeastern Wyoming through eastern Colorado and western Kansas southward through the plains of Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. In the short-grass prairie, Blue Grama grass and Buffalo-grass (Buchloe dactyloides) are the dominant sod-forming grasses. In British Columbia, the associated species are Sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata), Needle-and-thread Grass (Stipa comata), and other grasses species such as Dropseed (Sporobolus). Blue Grama sometimes grows in open Douglas fir forest as well as Ponderosa Pine forest with other grass species such as Rough Fescue (Festuca campestris), Richardson's Needlegrass (Stipa richardsonii) and Junegrass (Koeleria macrantha) . Blue Grama grass is one of the C4 (or warm-temperate) grasses. These are a group of grasses that have adapted to warmer temperatures and high light conditions, and have a higher photosynthetic rate than C3 grasses (cool-temperate grasses). As climate changes occur in North America, it has been predicted that the ratio of C3 species to C4 species will change, favouring C4 species in the more northerly locations. A continued warming trend may have large implications for agriculture, due to the fact that wheat is a C3 grass, whereas corn and soybeans are C4 species. Wildlife and all classes of livestock graze on Blue Grama Grass: it is one of the most palatable grasses available. It is also an important food source for many species of small rodents. The Northern Pocket Gopher forages on the seeds as well as plant material of Blue Grama grass. This gopher's range includes that of Blue Grama Grass in British Columbia. Fortunately, Blue Grama Grass is fairly resistant to grazing. Blue Grama has been used to rehabilitate disturbed sites and to re-vegetate dry parts of the central Great Plains. The Blackfeet used Blue Grama grass to forecast the weather. The severity of winter was predicted based on the number of spikes produced at each stalk -- one spike was mild and three was severe. Distribution Map of Blue Grama grass in B.C. References: Blaisdell, James P., R..C. Holmgren. 1984. Managing Intermountain rangelands-salt-desert shrub ranges. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-163. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. p. 52. Douglas, George W., Gerald B. Straley, Del V. Meidinger. May 1998. Rare Native Vascular Plants of British Columbia. Provincial Government of British Columbia. p. 45. Frasier, G.W., J.R.. Cox, D.A. Woolhiser. 1987. Wet-dry cycle effects of warm-season grass seedling establishment. Journal of Range Management. 40 (1): 2-6. Hitchcock, Leo C., Arthur Cronquist. 1973. Flora of the Pacific Northwest-An Illustrated Manual. University of Washington Press. Seattle and London. p. 623. Kershaw, Linda, Andy MacKinnon, Jim Pojar. 1998. Plants of the Rocky Mountains. Lone Pine Publishing. Canada Edmonton, Vancouver, Renton. p. 290. Leopold, E.B., M.F. Denton. 1987. Grassland and Steppe of the Northern Rocky Mountains. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Vol. 74. p. 841-861. Moss, E.H., John G. Packer. 1983. Flora of Alberta. Second edition. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, Buffalo, London. p. 620. Scoggan, H.J. 1978. The Flora of Canada - Part 2 - Pteridophyte, Gymnospermae, Monocotyledoneae. National Museum of Natural Sciences. Canada. p. 246. Sims, Phillip L. 1988. Grasslands. pp. 266-283 in M. Barbour and William Billings (eds.), North American Terrestrial Vegetation. Cambridge Univ. Press. N.Y U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 1937. Range plant handbook. Washington, DC. p. 532. Vaughan, Terry A. 1967. Food habits of the northern pocket gopher. American Midland Naturalist. 77(1): 176-189. Wilson, A.M., D.N. Hyder, D.D. Briske. 1976. Drought resistance characteristics of Blue grama seedlings. Agronomy Journal. 68: 479-484. Personal Communication: Panter, Nicholas. 1998. Royal British Columbia Museum-Mammals collection. Teel, Merle. 1998. Retired agronomist. Herbarium and Databases Directly Referenced: British Columbia Conservation Data Centre (CDC). 1998 Data base. Information compiled by Marta Donovan. Royal British Columbia Museum Herbarium (V), 1998 Collection.

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