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Blue grama
Habit (mature) · Matt Lavin / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Limited coverage
Blue grama
Bouteloua gracilis
A tough, fine-textured warm-season bunchgrass of the North American shortgrass prairie, named for its distinctive seed spikes that hang from one side of the arching stem like a comb or an eyebrow. Bluish-gray summer foliage forms dense low clumps that turn golden brown — sometimes orange and red — in autumn, while reddish-purple flowers rise above on slender culms in summer. Exceptionally drought- and heat-tolerant once established, it is a larval host for several prairie skipper butterflies and a seed source for granivorous birds.
Native: 27 US states + 4 CA provinces
Review: Source-backed
Climate fit: broad (94/100)
Structure
Pollinator
Border
Light
Full sun
Water
Low water
Mature size
9-24" tall · 12" apart
Hardy in zones
3a-10b
brutally cold to mild winters
Summer heat range
Mild-Extreme
mild to extreme summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.
Native in Illinois
Yes
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A documented larval host for the Skipper butterflies — specialist wildlife that depend on plants like this to reproduce.
Wildlife relationships
Cold hardiness
Now
Zone 6b
USDA
Chicago, IL · 1991-2020 average annual coldest day
Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer
Well-suited
2050
Zone 7b
Plotwright
Your zone + climate-model shift · SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry)
Well-suited
In plain terms: cold winters — coldest nights typically around -3°F.
Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Loading current AHS heat-zone and plant heat-fit data at your coordinates…
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis). Retrieved 2026, June 5, from https://plotwright.garden/plants/blue-grama
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited18 source-backed.
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
Growth stages
Lifecycle
Regional guidance
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Wikimedia Commons
Photo · CC BY-SA 2.0
Backs 1 field
Image
Community photos
The photos above are our reviewed reference set, curated for accuracy.
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