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Pictured: Bouteloua trifida — the species. This variety isn’t separately illustrated.
Poaceae family

Red Grama (var. burkii) Bouteloua trifida var. burkii variety

Native

Red Grama (var. burkii) is a perennial grass native to the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Bouteloua trifida is a species of grass known by the common name red grama. It is native to central and northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States, where it grows in desert scrub and other dry areas. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 8 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~1 caterpillar species

Bouteloua supports ~1 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a modest genus.

Recorded feeding on Bouteloua in North America, including:

Amblyscirtes simius · Simius Skipper Automeris patagoniensis · giant silk moth Cercyonis meadii · Mead's Wood Nymph Euxoa oberfoelli · owlet moth Hemileuca hualapai · Hualapai Buckmoth Hemileuca oliviae · giant silk moth
+ 8 more species →
Hesperia attalus · Dotted Skipper Hesperia comma · Silver-Spotted Skipper Hesperia dacotae · Dakota Skipper Hesperia leonardus · Leonard's Skipper Hesperia ottoe · Ottoe Skipper Neominois ridingsii · Riding's Satyr Oarisma garita · Garita Skipperling Yvretta rhesus · skipper butterfly
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (11) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[09] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[10] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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