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State Symbols
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Official state symbols represent the cultural heritage
and natural treasures of each state or the entire United States |
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Colorado Symbols
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Colorado State Grass
Blue Grama Grass
(Bouteloua gracilis)
Adopted in 1987.
Blue Grama is a grass native to the state of Colorado, growing throughout many of the state's life zones on both sides of the Continental Divide. Grasslands are an important resource to the State of Colorado with considerable economic and conservation significance. A state grass was designated to help inform and educate citizens and tourists about this resource.
Citation: Senate Joint Resolution 13, 1987.
Blue grama belongs to the grass family, Poaceae. A warm season perennial that spreads from basal tillers, growing from 4 to 18 inches in height. Well adapted to dry sites, medium to fine textured soils in the rolling uplands, but abundant on plains and mesas.
Growth Characteristics
Low-growing grass with seed stalks 6 to 20 inches tall. It is a bunchgrass with short rhizomes, often forming an open sod by tillering. Starts growth in May or June, flowers in July to August, and reproduces primarily from tillers. Cannot tolerate shading by taller plants.
Seedhead
One-sided spike up to 2 inches long that is curved and comb-shaped at maturity. Spikelets are numerous, arranged in two rows on one side of the rachis, each containing one perfect floret and two imperfect florets reduced to bristles and scales; lemmas of perfect floret three-awned; glumes hairy and awn-tipped.
Leaves
The blades are narrow, mostly basal, sometime curled but generally flat, 1 to 6 inches long, usually glabrous but sometimes hairy on the margin near the base, folded to slightly rolled in the bud. Sheaths glabrous; collar with a few hairs at the margins; ligule a fringe of very short hairs; auricles absent.
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Online High Schools
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State Symbols
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State symbols represent things that are special to a
particular state.
symbol \ˈsim-bəl\
noun
Etymology:
in sense 1, from Late Latin symbolum, from Late Greek symbolon, from Greek, token, sign; in
other senses from Latin symbolum token, sign, symbol, from Greek symbolon, literally, token
of identity verified by comparing its other half, from symballein to throw together,
compare, from syn- + ballein to throw — more at devil
Date: 15th century
1: Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or
convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.
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