Blue Grama Grass

General Information

• Plants: The leaves of blue gramma grass are very thin, ranging from 1-10 inches in length. Usually green or grey, blue gramma grass can grow up to 18 inches tall in bunches.
• Flowers: Each bunch of blue gramma grass as one to four eyebrow-shaped seed heads.
• Fruit: None.
• Flowering Season: July to August.
• Habitat/Range: Sporadically found in arid foothills or plains across the lower 48 states, as far north as the lower Canadian providences and as far south as the northern Mexican plateaus.¹

Blackfeet Ethnobotany^*

by Darnell and Smokey Rides At The Door

The Blackfeet name for blue grama grass is Koot Okia Apinann. Blackfeet tradition holds that there are only two seasons, winter and summer. Before almanacs and Gregorian calendars, the Blackfeet observed the behaviors of plants, flowers, trees, and animals to predict weather patterns for the coming seasons. These behaviors and relationships of living things with the land can be charted in seasonal rounds, traditional ways of knowing the seasonal changes.

Blue grama grass is one of these weather-foretelling plants based on the way that the stalks grow. If there is one spike, it signifies a mild winter. Two spikes means a longer, colder winter. Three spikes foretells a very severe winter is coming. These traditional methods of seasonal predictions have been observed since the beginning of the Blackfeet, time immemorial.²

From the Journals

by H. Wayne Phillips

This plant is not known to have been collected during the Expedition. However, it is certain that the Corps of Discovery encountered the wide-spread, native grass along their trek.³

Additional Information: Blue grama grass provides good grazing for animals and livestock. Blue grama is the state grass of Colorado.⁴ The genus name, Bouteloua, is in honor of two Spanish brothers, Claudio (d. 1842) and Esteban (d.1813) Boutelou, both professors of botany and agriculture, respectively. Another common name for blue grama is mosquito grass, named after the flowering tops of the plants that loosely resemble the insects.⁵

^*While traditional medicine is still practiced in many cultures including the Blackfeet culture and has many uses, please do not consume any plant material without consultation of a health professional.