野牛草 ye niu cao

Sesleria dactyloides Nuttall, Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 1: 65. 1818; Bulbilis dactyloides (Nuttall) Rafinesque ex Kuntze; Calanthera dactyloides (Nuttall) Kunth ex Hooker; Casiostega dactyloides (Nuttall) E. Fournier.

Perennial, sward forming. Culms slender, erect, 5–25 cm tall. Leaf sheaths sparsely pilose; leaf blades 3–10(–20) cm, 1–2 mm wide, curling, pilose on both surfaces, apex filiform; ligule ca. 0.5 mm. Male racemes 1–4, stramineous, 5–15 × ca. 5 mm, scattered toward culm apex. Female inflorescence capitate, 6–9 × 3–4 mm; indurated upper (outer) glume whitish with green apical lobes; lemma ovate below, contracted toward green apical lobes, middle lobe much longer than laterals; palea broad, as long as lemma body. Fl. and fr. summer to autumn. 2n = 56, 60.

Cultivated in China [native to Mexico and the United States].

This species (Buffalo Grass), from the western prairies of the United States, is a low, creeping grass that has been introduced into China for forage and as a lawn grass.