Bouteloua dactyloides Seeds | (syn. Buchloe )
LATIN NAME: Bouteloua dactyloides (syn. Buchloe dactyloides)
COMMON NAME: Buffalo Grass
Plant Profile
Buffalo grass is a low, sod-forming perennial of the grass family, native to the shortgrass prairie of the North American Great Plains, where it fed the bison herds. It grows ten to twenty centimetres high, with fine, grey-green leaves and curious seed units that are hard, curled and bur-like, sitting close to the ground.
It is one of the very few dioecious grasses, with male and female flowers on separate plants: the male spikes stand up on short stems, while the female ones are held low and form the bur-like seed units. It spreads by stolons and rhizomes, roots deeply for its size, and goes dormant in drought, greening again within days of rain.
Science & Biotechnology
The species was long known as Buchloe dactyloides and was moved into Bouteloua after molecular work showed it nested within the grama grasses. Its dioecy is rare in the family and has practical consequences: a lawn planted from seed produces a mixture of male and female plants, and only the female ones carry the bur-like seed, which is why some cultivars are sold as all-female clones for a finer, seedless turf.
Buffalo grass is one of the most drought-adapted grasses of the Great Plains, and it is the subject of low-input turf breeding. Cultivars such as Prairie, 609 and Legacy were selected for finer texture, density and a greener summer colour, and the species is now used in water-wise landscaping from Colorado to Texas. Its deep roots and its C4 pathway let it survive on a third of the water a bluegrass lawn needs.
Uses & Benefits
It is used as a low-maintenance lawn for dry regions, where it needs little mowing and almost no irrigation once established. It is also a pasture grass on the southern plains and a key species in shortgrass prairie restoration, where it is sown with blue grama and other short grasses to rebuild the original cover.
In a garden it is a plant for a dry, sunny lawn substitute or a meadow edge, where its fine grey-green leaves and low habit are an asset. It is not a grass for shade or for heavy traffic, and it goes brown in winter, which is worth accepting if the aim is a low-input lawn. The seed units are sharp and are best removed from a lawn that is walked on barefoot.
Growing from Seed
Sow in late spring or early summer, when the soil is above 18 °C, at two to four grams per square metre, and keep the surface moist until the seedlings are up, which can take three to four weeks. The seed units are hard and germinate unevenly, so a higher rate is used than for other turf grasses.
Water lightly and often for the first six weeks, then reduce sharply once the stolons begin to run. The grass needs full sun and a well-drained soil, and it will not tolerate compaction or shade. Mow at five to seven centimetres, and do not feed with nitrogen in summer, which encourages weeds more than grass.
Our Take
The buffalo grass of the shortgrass prairie: dioecious, drought-proof and low-growing. Sow it for a lawn that asks for almost nothing.
Related Reading
More species in the same orbit as Buffalo Grass: