Blue Grama - Alma

Blue grama is a warm-season perennial bunch grass native to North America. It grows 8 to 24 inches tall and changes color throughout the year from grayish green during the growing season to a straw yellow color at maturity. Blue grama does well in a variety of soil types but prefers well-drained soils and will not tolerate wet conditions, shade, or acidic soils. Blue grama provides good livestock grazing, is somewhat resistant to heavy grazing, and is a dominant grass in the short and mixed-grass prairies.

Alma blue grama was released by the new Mexico State University's Los Lunas Agricultural Science Center, the Colorado State University, and the USDA NRCS Los Lunas Plant Materials Center. Alma is a composite of Lovington blue grama, Hachita blue grama, and PM-K-1483 blue grama (a composite of accessions from Kansas and Texas). Alma blue grama was selected for heavier seed weight, seedling emergence from a deeper planting depth, seedling vigor, seed production, and forage production.