Bouteloua curtipendula

Side-oats grama

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Side-oats grama is a California native perennial grass found in southern Sierra Valley (Yolo County as a roadside waif), eastern Peninsular Range, eastern desert mountains, and southwestern Sonoran Desert in dry, rocky slopes, scrub, and woodland habitats at elevations below 1,900 meters. Flowering from April to November, this grass produces delicate brown to grayish spikelets that hang pendulously from its branches in distinctive one-sided clusters. Growing with erect stems 20 to 90 centimeters tall, it forms clumps with slender, slightly rhizomatous growth. Its narrow leaves are less than 25 centimeters long and narrower than 4 millimeters wide, giving the plant a fine, graceful texture. The grass's unique seed-bearing branches, which drop their spikelets when mature, create a characteristic cascading appearance that makes side-oats grama easily recognizable in its native landscapes.

Habitat: Dry, rocky slopes, crevices, sandy to rocky drainages, scrub, woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Nov

Elevation: < 1900 m

Bioregions: s ScV (Yolo Co. as roadside waif), e PR, e&amps DMtns, sw DSon

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.