// SPECIES PROFILE · GRASS · NATIVE

Sideoats Grama

Bouteloua curtipendula

Sideoats grama is the medium-grass prairie's signature grass — slender stems hung with little flag-like seed clusters that all dangle uniformly to one side (giving the species its name), with brilliant orange anthers in midsummer that turn the prairie a shimmering bronze-purple.

// QUICK FACTS

Family: Poaceae
Group: grass
Native range: Cent. & W. North America incl. all of OK
USDA hardiness: Zones 3–10
Mature size: 1–3 ft
Sun: Full sun
Water: Drought-extremely-hardy
Wildlife value: Larval host for several skipper butterfly spp.; turkey + quail forage
Ecological role: Texas state grass · medium-grass prairie · purple seed flags

Sideoats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) — *Bouteloua curtipendula*. Photo via Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons.

Field Notes

[ growing · ecology · siting · care ]

One of the toughest, most drought-proof native bunchgrasses. Excellent for slopes, parking strips, and low-water meadow plantings. Spreads slowly by short rhizomes.

Why it's on this list: Texas state grass · medium-grass prairie · purple seed flags. Part of Rooted Revival's NE Oklahoma plant catalog — natives, ecologically positive non-invasive cultivars, and food crops worth growing in the Tulsa region.

Companion Planting

[ guild · polyculture · cross-layer pairings ]

In a dry mixed-grass prairie planting, sideoats grama pairs naturally with: new jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus), aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta), buffalograss (Bouteloua dactyloides), and butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa).

Interplant sideoats grama as a structural matrix between forbs to mimic native prairie architecture.

Sideoats Grama

Field Notes

Companion Planting

Photo Reference