Saturday, January 28, 2012

Shop for Buffalo Grass Seeds or Plants!

Buchloe dactyloides Information



Shop for Buffalo Grass Seeds or Plants

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

Buffalograss 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.

Buffalograss is a warm-season, native perennial shortgrass. It is drought-, heat-, and cold-resistant. Foliage is usually 2–5 in (5.1–13 cm) high, though in the southern Great Plains foliage may reach 12 in (30 cm). Buffalograss is usually dioecious. Plants are occasionally monoecious, sometimes with perfect flowers. Flower stalks are 4–8 in (10–20 cm) tall. The male inflorescence is a panicle; the female inflorescence consists of short spikelets borne in burlike clusters, usually with two to four spikelets per bur.

Buffalograss 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. Buffalograss roots are finer than those of most plains grasses, being less than 1 mm (0.039 in) in diameter.