Bouteloua gracilis, the blue grama, is a long-lived, warm-season (C4) perennial grass, native to North America.

[2][4][5] It is most commonly found from Alberta, Canada, east to Manitoba and south across the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and U.S. Midwest states, onto the northern Mexican Plateau in Mexico.

Blue grama accounts for most of the net primary productivity in the shortgrass prairie of the central and southern Great Plains.

[7] Blue grama is readily established from seed, but depends more on vegetative reproduction via tillers.

Successful establishment requires a modest amount of soil moisture during the extension and development of adventitious roots.

[7] Established plants are grazing-, cold-, and drought-tolerant, though prolonged drought leads to a reduction in root number and extent.

It is present in most of the Midwestern United States, extending east to Missouri and Texas, and as far west as Southern California.

[13] Blue grama is grown by the horticulture industry, and used in perennial gardens, naturalistic and native plant landscaping, habitat restoration projects, and residential, civic, and highway erosion control.

[19][20] Populations of blue grama across the great plains are genetically differentiated (even at small spatial scales) and show functional trait variance connected to climate.