International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No. 11, 82-94
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improved levels of quality, density, and colour, as well as improved tolerances to the stresses of traffic, heat, and
drought.
3.3 Blue Grama (
Bouteloua gracilis
)
Description: Blue grama is a tropical, rhizomatous, perennial, native grass distributed throughout the Great Plains
of the U.S. It is 15-30 cm tall having flat leaves that come to a point at the end. The leaves are 2.5 to 25 cm long and
3 mm wide. The inflorescences are 17-46 cm tall. The flowers resemble crescent moons perched on the end of the
flower stem. A flower consists of 20 to 90 little spikelets.
Varieties: ‘Lovington’, ‘Hachita’, ‘Alma’
Importance and uses: It grows well in sandy soils. Like buffalograss, blue grama grasses are excellent drought and
cold tolerant. Although common at lower elevations, blue grama can be grown up to at elevations approaching
7000 feet. It is usually planted for naturalizing far roughs of golf courses. Blue grama, forms a very attractive
unmowed turf. Blue grama grasses are s good drought, fair salinity, and moderate alkalinity tolerant. Blue grama
is observed growing in association with buffalograss, western wheatgrass, needlegrasses and in some areas the
bluegrasses. Blue grama recoups well on stem, making it a good grass for grazing during the dormant season.
3.4 Buffalo grass (
Buchloe dactyloides
)
(Beard and Kim, 1989)
Description: It is a perennial grass originated from Montana to Mexico. Buffalograss is a low growing tropical
grass and 20 to 25cm tall. Individual leaf blades are 25cm to 30cm in length, but they fall over and make the turf a
short appearance. Buffalograss is stoloniferous, arranged with curly leaves, and both staminate and pistillate
flowers. Staminate plants bear 2 to 3 flag-like, one-sided spikes on a seedstalk, 10cm to 15cm high. Spikelets,
usually 10, are 4 mm long in two rows on one side of the rachis. Pistillate spikelets are borne in a short spike or
head and included in the inflated sheaths of the upper leaves. The thickened rachis is woody and surrounded by
the outer glumes. Both male and female plants have stolons, several inches to several feet in length, internodes
5cm to 7.5cm long, and nodes with tufts of short leaves. Plants produce root at the node and produce new shoots.
Varieties:
Seeded varieties: Bison, Bowie, Cody, Plains, Topgun, Sharps Improved, Tatanka, Texoka.
Vegetative varieties: Prairie, 609, Legacy, Prestige, Turffalo, Midget, Mobuff, Stampede,’315,’378’, Bonniebrae,
Density.
Importance and uses: Buffalograss is primarily used for range grazing and is important component of the
shortgrass and mixed grass prairies. Buffalograss is utilized by all classes of livestock. It is considered good
quality forage, and nutritional qualities do not decline significantly during curing. Buffalograss is gaining
popularity for use in low traffic areas and a possible substitute for exotic warm season grasses such as
bermudagrass (
Cynodon dactylon
), St. Augustine (
Stenotaphrum secundatum
), and zoysia (
Zoysia japonica
)
Buffalograss forms a dense sod that impedes soil erosion. Buffalo grass is ideal for roadsides, school grounds,
parks, open lawn areas, golf course roughs and cemeteries.
3.5 Carpet grass (
Axonopus affinis
)
Description: Carpetgrass is originated from Central America and the West Indies. The compressed creeping stems
root at each joint. Narrowleaf carpetgrass is a warm-season, perennial, stoloniferous, short, spreading grass.
Leaves are 5-20 cm long and 2-6 mm in breadth. Plants are 25-75 cm tall, forming a dense mat over the ground
surface. The floret is fertile, white to pale-yellow. Broadleaf carpetgrass is a short, perennial, stoloniferous, dense,
mat-like, spreading grass. It attains a maximum height of about 20-50 cm. Leaves are 4-15 cm long and 4-10 mm
in breadth and are broadly linear or lanceolate. There are usually two to four slender, dense spikes. Broadleaf
carpetgrass is similar to narrowleaf carpetgrass in most of its botanical characteristics but is more robust and is
arranged with more stolons.
