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• Dichotomous Key
• Poaceae
• Poaceae Group 5
• Bouteloua
• Bouteloua curtipendula

Bouteloua curtipendula — sideoats grama

Facts

Sideoats grama is common in the prairies of the Great Plains, and widespread elsewhere, but in New England it is rare. It is considered native to western Connecticut, where there are a handful of populations, but introduced to Maine in rare deposits of waste material including seeds. Its rarity may be due in part to its restriction to areas of high-pH soils and dry to sandy habitats. Dam building, shading due to forest succession, and invasive species are probable factors in sideoats grama decline.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), cliffs, balds, or ledges, floodplain (river or stream floodplains), meadows and fields, ridges or ledges, woodlands

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  1.5–3.5 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has no awn

  Floret lower bract texture

  • the lemma is hard and firm
  • the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret types within spikelet

  there are at least two distinct forms of florets within one spikelet

  Glume relative length

  neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets

  Glume veins

  1

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branch length

  0.5–4 cm

  Inflorescence branches

  the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence length

  130–300 mm

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched and the branches all grow from the same side of the plant and look like spikes

  Inforescence position

  the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem

  Lemma awn coiled

  the lemma awn is straight or twisted, but not coiled one half turn

  Lemma awn length

  Up to 6 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has more than one awn on it

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma tip

  • the lemma tip is a simple point, with or without an awn (long narrow extension ending in a point)
  • the lemma tip is split into two or more points

  Lemma tip shape

  the lemma tip tapers to a narrow point (it may or may not also have an awn or teeth at the tip)

  Lemma vein number

  3

  Lemma vein orientation

  the veins on the lemma stay roughly parallel throughout

  Lower glume length

  2.5–6 mm

  Lower glume relative length

  the lower glume is one third to three quarters as long as the upper glume

  One or more florets

  • there is more than one floret per spikelet
  • there is one floret per spikelet

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant have both carpels and stamens (synoecious)

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is no extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet disintegration

  the spikelet breaks off below the glumes

  Spikelet length

  5.5–8 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  0

  Spikelets per panicle branch

  1–15

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Upper glume length

  5.5–8 mm

  Upper glume relative length

  the upper glume is more than one half as long as the lowest lemma

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Growth form

  Horizontal rooting stem

  no

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Rhizomes

  • no
  • yes

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section, or slightly folded or rolled inwards

  Leaf blade hairs

  • the leaf blade is hairless, but it may have tiny prickles that give it a sand-papery feel
  • the leaf blade is hairy

  Leaf blade length

  2–30 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  • the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery
  • the leaf blade is smooth, or it may have soft hairs

  Leaf blade width

  1.4–7 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  0.3–0.5 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane with fine hairs

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

  Leaf sheath hair type

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

  Leaf sheath hairs

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine

  Specific habitat

  • cliffs, balds, or ledges
  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields
  • ridges or ledges
  • river or stream floodplains
  • woodlands

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Plant height

  8–80 cm

  Stem orientation

  • the stems are upright
  • the stems trail at the base, but turn upwards at the tips

  Stem spacing

  • the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts
  • the stems grow singly or a few together (they may form diffuse colonies)

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae