Blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis (Will. ex Kunth) Lag. ex Griffiths) is a long-lived, warm season, C4 perennial grass native to North America. It is most commonly found from Alberta east to Manitoba and south across the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and Midwest states to Mexico. Blue grama accounts for most of the net primary productivity in the shortgrass prairie of the central and southern Great Plains. Blue grama grows on a wide array of topographic positions, and in a range of well-drained soil types, from fine to coarse textured.