(Buchloe dactyloides), perennial western North American grass of the family Poaceae and the only species in the genus Buchloe. The plant is less than 20 cm (8 inches) tall, with gray-green, curly leaves and extensively creeping stolons (horizontal, root-forming stems). Buffalo grass forms a dense turf and thick sod, which early settlers used in the construction of dwellings. It is also an important year-round forage plant.