Bouteloua
Bouteloua is a genus of plants in the grass family Poaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as grama grass.
Description
Bouteloua includes both annual and perennial grasses, which frequently form stolons. Species have an inflorescence of 1 to 80 racemes or spikes positioned alternately on the culm. The rachis of the spike is flattened. The spikelets are positioned along one side of the spike. Each spikelet contains one fertile floret, and usually one sterile floret.Taxonomy
The genus was first described by Mariano Lagasca in 1805. It was named for Claudio and Esteban Boutelou, 19th-century Spanish botanists. David Griffiths produced a 1912 monograph on the genus.Species
Species of Bouteloua include:Bouteloua alamosana Vasey – MesoamericaBouteloua americana Scribn. - American grama – southern Mexico, Central America, West Indies, northern South AmericaBouteloua annua Swallen – Baja [California Sur], SonoraBouteloua arizonica Cuellar & ColumbusBouteloua aristidoides Griseb. - needle grama – United States ; Mexico, South America, ArubaBouteloua barbata Lag. - six-weeks grama – United States, MexicoBouteloua bracteata Columbus – MichoacánBouteloua breviseta Vasey – United States, MexicoBouteloua chasei SwallenBouteloua chondrosioides Benth. ex S.Watson - sprucetop grama – United States ; MesoamericaBouteloua curtipendula Torr. - sideoats grama – widespread in USA, Canada, MexicoBouteloua dactyloides Columbus - buffalograss – USA, Canada, MexicoBouteloua dimorpha Columbus – Great Plains in USA, Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Cuba, TrinidadBouteloua distans Swallen – MexicoBouteloua disticha Benth. – from southern Mexico to Ecuador; also Cuba, GalápagosBouteloua diversispicula ColumbusBouteloua elata Reeder & C.ReederBouteloua eludens Griffiths – USA, Mexico Bouteloua erecta ColumbusBouteloua eriopoda Torr. – United States, MexicoBouteloua eriostachya ReederBouteloua gracilis Lag. ex Griffiths - blue grama – Great Plains in USA, Canada, MexicoBouteloua griffithsii ColumbusBouteloua herrera-arrietae P.M.Peterson & Romasch.Bouteloua hirsuta Lag. – USA, Mexico, GuatemalaBouteloua johnstonii Swallen – CoahuilaBouteloua juncea A.S.Hitchc. - lamilla – Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto RicoBouteloua karwinskyi GriffithsBouteloua kayi WarnockBouteloua media Gould & Kapadia – from central Mexico to UruguayBouteloua megapotamica Kuntze – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, BoliviaBouteloua mexicana Columbus – Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, HondurasBouteloua multifida Columbus – from Sonora to OaxacaBouteloua nervata Swallen – Hidalgo, México StateBouteloua parryi Griffiths – Parry's Grama, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Northern MexicoBouteloua pectinata – tall grama, eyebrow grass – TexasBouteloua pedicellata Swallen – Puebla, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Tlaxcala, Nuevo León, Veracruz Bouteloua polymorpha Columbus – from Durango to OaxacaBouteloua purpurea Gould & Kapadia – Guanajuato, D.F., San Luis Potosí, México State, Hidalgo, QuerétaroBouteloua radicosa Griffiths - purple grama – USA, Mexico Bouteloua ramosa Scribn. ex VaseyBouteloua reederorum Columbus – Durango, Puebla, Zacatecas, OaxacaBouteloua reflexa Swallen – Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California, Baja California Sur, NayaritBouteloua repens Scribn. & Merr. - slender grama – Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Mesoamerica, Colombia, Venezuela, West IndiesBouteloua rigidiseta Hitchc. - Texas grama – New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mexico Bouteloua scabra Columbus – from Hidalgo to HondurasBouteloua scorpioides Lag.Bouteloua simplex Lag. Much of southwestern and central United States, Central America, western South AmericaBouteloua stolonifera Scribn. – San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, ZacatecasBouteloua swallenii Columbus – from El Salvador to VenezuelaBouteloua triaena Scribn. – from Sinaloa to GuatemalaBouteloua trifida Thunb. – Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, MexicoBouteloua uniflora Vasey - Nealley grama, oneflower grama – Utah, Texas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, Nuevo León, Querétaro, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí, TamaulipasBouteloua vaneedenii Pilg. – Cuba, Leeward Islands, VenezuelaBouteloua varia ColumbusBouteloua warnockii Gould & Kapadia - Warnock's grama – New Mexico, Texas, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, ZacatecasBouteloua williamsii Swallen – Mexico, Guatemala, HondurasDistribution
Bouteloua is found only in the Americas, with most diversity centered in the southwestern United States.It also occurs in the Ciénaga de Zapata Biosphere Reserve of Cuba.