Bouteloua

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.

A native warm-season prairie grass with a distinctive flower arrangement: the small purple-red spikelets hang in two rows on one side of arching wiry stems — the namesake "side-oats" habit. State grass of Texas; widespread in tallgrass + shortgrass prairie. Drought-tolerant once established; among the more drought-resistant native grasses for hot dry sites.