• Cover Crop - Native Cover Bouteloua curtipendula (Side Oats Grama) native plant in bloom
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Cover Crop - Native Cover Bouteloua curtipendula (Side Oats Grama)

Cover Crop - Native Cover Bouteloua curtipendula (Side Oats Grama)

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Quick View - Seed Mix Specifications

Pure Live Seed

Seed is provided in Pure Live Seed (PLS) unless otherwise stated.

Pure Live Seed (PLS) refers to the percentage of a seed lot that consists of the desired species and is viable (capable of germination).   

Here's why PLS is crucial for native seeds:

  • Accurate Planting:
    • PLS helps determine the actual number of viable seeds in a given weight or volume of seed.   
    • This ensures you plant the correct amount of seed to achieve the desired density and success rate.   
  • Cost-Effectiveness:
    • By knowing the PLS, you can avoid overspending on seed that may not germinate.
    • This is especially important for native seeds, which can be more expensive than some cultivated varieties.
  • Weed Control:
    • PLS helps minimize the presence of weed seeds within the seed lot.
    • This reduces competition for resources and ensures the successful establishment of the desired native plants.
  • Ecological Restoration:
    • Using high-quality native seeds with a high PLS is essential for successful ecological restoration projects.
    • It helps to re-establish diverse and resilient plant communities that support local wildlife.

This side-oats grama listing is offered for native cover plantings. Bouteloua curtipendula favors full sun and dry ground, with small flower spikes arranged along one side of the stem.

Its usual reported height is about 2–2½ feet. Tight bunches of stems develop from rhizomes, although plants can also occur more sparsely. Compare that growth pattern with the structure you want in the planting and with the other species in the seed recipe. Recorded habitats range from prairie and savanna to dry woodland edges, glades and rocky bluffs.

For an establishment project, specify the role of this grass and calculate its quantity within the actual planting recipe. The cover-planting label does not make it interchangeable with every temporary nurse crop. Keep the current seed information and application instructions with the order, and consider the mature grass as part of the planting that will develop over time.

Plant specifications & ecological relationships

Key growing facts

Sunlight Full sun
Soil moisture Dry
Height About 2–2½ ft
Bloom season Mid-summer to early fall
Show / hide ▾Growing & planting details
Growth habit Usually forms tight bunches of stems from rhizomes; also occurs as scattered plants
Root form Fibrous roots; Rhizomes
Soil pH 5.5–8.5
Drought tolerance Strong drought resistance reported
Salt tolerance Low

Plant identification & seed reference

Botanical name Bouteloua curtipendula
Other common names side-oats grama
Seed germination USDA lists cold stratification as not required; seed-lot response may vary.
Plant family Poaceae
Seeds per pound — reference estimate 159200

Plant characteristics

Bouteloua curtipendula (Side Oats Grama) is a native grass that germinates and grows quickly. This mix is a powerful tool in Fly-Wheel-Ecology and Integrated Pest Management to reduce herbicide use.

What sets Side Oats Grama apart as a cover crop from our native rye cover crop is this is a warm-season grass. Being a warm season grass, it can add "fuel" nearly immediately to your restoration project to get it burnable quickly to aid in the control of invasive woody resprouts and other invasive species.

Also use it to help with the erosion of the soil and your precious seed.  Use this cover crop to help compete against weeds and as an indicator crop to help determine if your seeding was successful. It also can be used as a carrier to help spread seed more evenly.

We recommend seeding this for spring and summer installations as a cover crop and anytime as a carrier.  

Please contact us for Quantities larger than 20 lbs.

Show / hide ▾Plant communities & associates

Illinois plant communities

These regional accounts place this plant and the plants below in the same type of natural community. A community list does not mean that every species grew together in one plot. Use the habitat and location to understand the relationship; it is not a planting recipe.

Other regional plant communities

These plants are named with this species in published vegetation accounts. Each list keeps its community and region; some records describe a shared vegetation type rather than neighboring plants in a measured plot. They are ecological records, not a planting recipe, and may include plants unsuitable for a particular garden.

  • Grasslands, woodlands and shrublands (North American range synthesis; associations vary by region): Pseudoroegneria spicata, Pascopyrum smithii, Schizachyrium scoparium, Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii, Festuca idahoensis, Koeleria macrantha, Bouteloua gracilis, Sarcobatus vermiculatus, Cercocarpus montanus, Pinus edulis, Juniperus pinchotii, Juniperus virginiana, Juniperus monosperma, Juniperus ashei, Juniperus deppeana, Juniperus osteosperma.
  • Tallgrass prairie (North-central Texas): Bouteloua hirsuta.
  • Ponderosa-pine savanna (Western North Dakota): Bouteloua hirsuta.
  • Sandy uplands (Mixed- and tallgrass prairie range): Calamovilfa longifolia.
  • Xeric limestone prairie (Pennsylvania): Celtis occidentalis.
  • Mid-grass prairie (Great Plains): Dalea purpurea.
  • Grassland and shrub associates (Prairie region; account synthesis): Juniperus virginiana.
  • Bluestem prairie (Kansas): Rhus glabra.
Show / hide ▾Native range & C-value
Wetland indicator — Corps Chicago 2017 table UPL
C-value — Chicago region, Flora 2017 8
Chicago-region native — Flora 2017 Yes
Native range — U.S. states Alabama; Arizona; Arkansas; California; Colorado; Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Idaho; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; Mississippi; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; Oregon; Pennsylvania; South Carolina; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas; Utah; Virginia; Washington; West Virginia; Wisconsin; Wyoming
County nativity Not yet verified; occurrence records do not establish nativity.
Show / hide ▾Pollinators & wildlife

Caterpillars & other plant-feeding insects

This plant has published caterpillar host records for the butterflies and moths listed below. These are larval feeding relationships, separate from adult nectar visits. The records span a North American literature compilation and do not establish that every insect occurs locally or uses only this plant.

Butterflies & skippers

  • Amblyscirtes aenus — Bronze Roadside-Skipper
  • Amblyscirtes arizonae
  • Amblyscirtes oslari — Prairie Roadside-Skipper, Oslar's Roadside-Skipper
  • Amblyscirtes phylace — Orange-Headed Roadside-Skipper, Redhead Roadside-Skipper
  • Atrytone arogos — Arogos Skipper, Beardgrass Skipper
  • Hesperia juba — Juba Skipper, Jagged-Border Skipper
  • Hesperia viridis — Green Skipper, Black-Dust Skipper, Viridis Skipper
  • Oarisma aurantiaca — Orange Skipperling
  • Stinga morrisoni — Morrison's Skipper, Morrison’s Silver Spike

Moths

  • Ctenucha venosa — Veined Ctenucha
Show / hide ▾Frequently asked questions

What are the ideal growing conditions for Side Oats Grama?
Bouteloua curtipendula performs best in full sun with dry to dry-mesic (gravel hill prairies & well-drained loams) conditions. It thrives in authentic regional soil types ranging from sandy loam to well-drained clay loams.

How do I germinate and establish Side Oats Grama from seed?
Seed of Bouteloua curtipendula has a germination code of C(30). For best results, sow seed in late fall/winter for natural outdoor freeze-thaw stratification, or cold-moist stratify in refrigeration for 30 to 60 days before spring indoor propagation.

Is Side Oats Grama deer and herbivore resistant?
Yes. Native plants adapted to Midwestern habitats naturally produce protective secondary compounds and fibrous textures that make them highly resistant to deer, rabbits, and other grazing herbivores.

When should I expect Side Oats Grama to emerge and bloom?
Established plants break dormancy in spring as soil temperatures warm, developing vigorous foliage before blooming in their seasonal window to provide vital nectar when native pollinators need it most.

Show / hide ▾Sources & ecological notes

Chicago-region assessment: Wilhelm & Rericha (2017), Flora of the Chicago Region, via Kenneth Johnson’s Universal FQA dataset (2018). Chicago-region native status is separate from U.S. nativity.

The C-value and Chicago-region native status shown here also agree with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chicago Region FQA dataset (2017), distributed through the USACE/ERDC fqadata package under CC0.

Flora of the Chicago Region (2017) records this taxon as native in the Chicago region.

The state list describes native botanical distribution. It does not establish county nativity or occurrence, suitability for every site, or the origin of the plants and seeds offered here. An unlisted state is not proof of absence.

Range data: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; 4 June 2026 release, accessed 7 September 2026. © The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. CC BY 3.0; selected and reformatted. Kew cannot warrant the quality or accuracy of these data. This use has no Kew endorsement.

State and county nativity: The state list uses WCVP records marked native, excluding introduced, extinct and doubtful records. County nativity has not yet been verified for this listing. Presence in a county or preserve does not establish nativity there.

Plant communities: USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System (FEIS): Bouteloua curtipendula; Bouteloua hirsuta; Calamovilfa longifolia; Celtis occidentalis; Dalea purpurea; Juniperus virginiana; Rhus glabra. Selected association facts regrouped in original wording; regional scope retained. No source photographs or captions reproduced.

Caterpillar host records: Shropshire, K.J. & Tallamy, D.W. (2025), Lepidoptera of North America, Supplement 1. Contains information from this database made available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0). Natural Communities selected species-level records and screened source qualifications. The complete selection and transformation instructions for this page are available below under the same license.

Reusable host-record selection (JSON)

Source: Phillippe, L.R., Molano-Flores, B., Murphy, M.J.C., Marcum, P.B. & Ebinger, J.E. (2011), Status of Endangered and Threatened Sand Area Species of the Illinois Flora, Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 39(4):259–296. © 2011 University of Illinois Board of Trustees; CC BY 4.0. Selected community facts regrouped and described by Natural Communities. Historical source names retained; no current legal conservation status is asserted.

C-value source: Flora of the Chicago Region (2017), Universal FQA database 80. Matched source taxon: Bouteloua curtipendula. Exact.

View the C-value source

Sources checked September 5, 2026. Regional assessments and growing observations apply to their stated settings. Unverified fields are omitted; missing information does not mean an ecological relationship is absent.

  1. Illinois Wildflowers — John Hilty. Limited botanical facts presented in Natural Communities’ own wording. Source-specific observations retain their stated scope; photographs, original descriptive prose and compiled relationship tables are excluded. Supports: Bloom Season; Height; Opening botanical description; Root Architecture & Depth; Soil Moisture Range; Spread Habit; Sun Exposure; Sunlight Exposure.
  2. Universal FQA — Flora-linked Chicago database 80. Taxonomic names, family and regional nativity originally checked against Kenneth Johnson’s Flora-linked database 80 (2018), citing Wilhelm & Rericha (2017). Limited factual identification only; the C-value follows this Flora-linked database wherever an exact or documented synonym match is available. Supports: Alternate Common Names; Botanical Name; Chicago-region native status; Plant Family.
  3. USACE/ERDC fqadata — Chicago Region FQA 2017. Herman, B., Sliwinski, R. & Whitaker, S. (2017), Chicago Region FQA Calculator; distributed by USACE/ERDC in fqadata under CC0. Values may differ from Flora of the Chicago Region (2017). CC0 dedication. Supports: Wetland Indicator Status.
  4. Patrick Goggin — Wisconsin Guide to Native Plants. Limited botanical facts presented in Natural Communities’ own wording. Source-specific observations retain their stated scope; photographs, original descriptive prose and compiled relationship tables are excluded. Supports: Drought Tolerance; Primary Native Habitats. Source locators: page=64.
  5. USDA NRCS PLANTS — taxon profile and characteristics. USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, checked September 5, 2026. Numeric and categorical taxon-level facts only; no photographs or third-party guide prose reproduced. Supports: Germination Code; Salt Tolerance; Seeds per pound — USDA reference estimate; Soil pH Range.
  6. USDA Forest Service — FEIS, wildflower accounts and seed manual. Uchytil, Ronald J. 1988. Andropogon gerardii. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System. Public-domain synthesis; community records retain their reported geography. Supports: Documented community associate: Andropogon gerardii.

Flora rating attribution: Kenneth Johnson (2018), Flora of the Chicago Region UFQA Database, following Gerould Wilhelm and Laura Rericha (2017), Flora of the Chicago Region: A Floristic and Ecological Synthesis. Individual rating facts are presented with original commentary; the calculator’s software license is not treated as a license for the underlying Flora publication.

The linked Illinois plant relationships were reconciled with INHS-hosted source inventories on September 6, 2026. Same-remnant pairs were calculated from shared named-site occurrences and organized for this catalog; they are not copied narrative descriptions or proof of microsite compatibility.

Additional reference: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0672/8825/files/Cover_Crop_-_Native_Rye_Mix.pdf?v=1695588368.

Historical botanical names remain visible where used by the source. These regional accounts supplement the available Chicago Flora evidence.

Reusable research data

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{"title":"Natural Communities selected host records for Bouteloua curtipendula","source":"Shropshire, K.J. & Tallamy, D.W. (2025). Lepidoptera of North America, north of Mexico: an annotated list containing geographic ranges and host-plant records. Supplement 1.","source_doi":"https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1261.160796.suppl1","download":"https://binary.pensoft.net/file/1478226","source_sha256":"250a11ec19c89f81374af3bc632f6897491cbe540edb09ccdaf298dc73bf9472","license":"ODbL-1.0","license_url":"https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/","method":"Complete machine-readable selection and alteration file under ODbL section 4.6(b). In source worksheet UDELep May 2025, select only rows whose column A UDLepID appears in selection. Each selection entry contains [retained source plant names, selected insect IDs]. Create one record per selected ID and retained plant name; these are reported larval hosts. Scientific insect name is the first two whitespace-separated tokens of column H; common name is E; source category is AB. Other source fields are unchanged and are not part of this derived table. No other rows or host pairs are used on this page. Group Butterfly and Skipper categories together, and other categories as moths; retain exotic category labels. Display names are sorted by scientific insect name.","plant":"Bouteloua curtipendula","scope":"Host literature synthesis; no county nativity or local insect occurrence inferred.","selection":[[["Bouteloua curtipendula"],["200676","200679","200691","200692","201643","203645","206856","206867","208876","211876"]]]}
{"title":"Natural Communities selected host records for Bouteloua curtipendula","source":"Shropshire, K.J. & Tallamy, D.W. (2025). Lepidoptera of North America, north of Mexico: an annotated list containing geographic ranges and host-plant records. Supplement 1.","source_doi":"https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1261.160796.suppl1","download":"https://binary.pensoft.net/file/1478226","source_sha256":"250a11ec19c89f81374af3bc632f6897491cbe540edb09ccdaf298dc73bf9472","license":"ODbL-1.0","license_url":"https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/","method":"Complete machine-readable selection and alteration file under ODbL section 4.6(b). In source worksheet UDELep May 2025, select only rows whose column A UDLepID appears in selection. Each selection entry contains [retained source plant names, selected insect IDs]. Create one record per selected ID and retained plant name; these are reported larval hosts. Scientific insect name is the first two whitespace-separated tokens of column H; common name is E; source category is AB. Other source fields are unchanged and are not part of this derived table. No other rows or host pairs are used on this page. Group Butterfly and Skipper categories together, and other categories as moths; retain exotic category labels. Display names are sorted by scientific insect name.","plant":"Bouteloua curtipendula","scope":"Host literature synthesis; no county nativity or local insect occurrence inferred.","selection":[[["Bouteloua curtipendula"],["200676","200679","200691","200692","201643","203645","206856","206867","208876","211876"]]]}
  • 10 lbs. per acre used by itself or 4-6 lbs. per acre when used with native seed
  • Full Sun To Part Sun
  • Normal, to Dry Soils

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