Buchloe dactyloides

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Buffalograss
turf-type buffalograss
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Subkingdom: Tracheobionta Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Lilopsdia Subclass: Commelinidae Order: Cyperales Family: Poaceae Genus: Buchloe Species: B. dactyloides
Binomial name
Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) J.T. Columbus
Synonyms
Bouteloua dactyloides

Buffalograss, or buffalo grass, (Buchloe dactyloides) is a native North American prairie grass. A shortgrass found mainly on the high plains, it is a valuable fodder. Buffalo grass is co-dominant with Blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) over most of the shortgrass prairie.

Buffalo grass is distributed from central Montana east to Minnesota and south to eastern coastal Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, eastern Arizona, and northern Mexico. It is incidental in northern Idaho and Virginia.

Buffalo grass is a warm-season, native perennial shortgrass. It is drought-, heat-, and cold-resistant. Foliage is usually 2 to 5 inches (5-13 cm) high, though in the southern Great Plains foliage may reach 12 inches (30 cm). Buffalo grass is usually dioecious. Plants are occasionally monoecious, sometimes with perfect flowers. Flowerstalks are 4 to 8 inches (10-20 cm) tall. The male inflorescense is a panicle; the female inflorescense consists of short spikelets borne in burlike clusters, usually with two to four spikelets per bur.

Buffalo grass sends out numerous, branching stolons; occasionally it also produces rhizomes. Roots are also numerous and thoroughly occupy the soil. The numerous stolons and roots form a dense sod. Buffalo grass roots are finer than those of most plains grasses, being less than 1 mm in diameter.

[edit] References

• Buchloe dactyloides at U.S. Dept of Agriculture
• Turf-Type Buchloe dactyloides at Native Turf Group (non-profit)
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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