Feature: Great American Plants by the NRCS Plant Materials Program
Released in 1940 by the Albuquerque, New Mexico Plant Materials
Nursery (now known as the Los Lunas Plant Materials Center) and the New Mexico
Agricultural Experiment Station.
With a distribution covering much of the U.S, sideoats grama is one of the most
prolific native warm season grasses. It functions as an important range grass from
the Great Plains into the Southwest. The 'Vaughn' selection of sideoats grama has
long been a standard for rangeland reseeding as well as disturbed area revegetation.
It was collected from native stands near Vaughn, New Mexico and released in 1940 by
the Albuquerque, New Mexico Plant Materials Nursery (now known as the Los Lunas
Plant Materials Center) and the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station. In
demand for over 60 years, 'Vaughn' has been used on more than 500,000 acres for
an ecological benefit of $25 million.
'Vaughn' is typical of the species: medium stature (less than 24 inches tall), bunching,
and leafy. It was selected especially for use in New Mexico and eastern Colorado because
of its superior drought tolerance in comparison to other varieties. 'Vaughn' has good
seedling vigor and is readily established on rocky or shallow soils.
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