The first grasses to arrive on ruined soil are among the most valued by buffalo, the Bouteloua family. Many species still carry the Spanish name for grasses – grama. The Bouteloua are typically little tufts of thin, wiry, drought-singed leaves that hardly ever grow to a foot tall. The gramas evolved on the fringes of the Chihuanhuan Desert, a dozen of these nutritious little grasses migrated into Texas after the Pleistocene when most tall grasses were dying out. The gramas prefer plenty of space, which is no problem at the close of a barren period, and they will hold on until crowded out by the next stage in restoration. Most of these grasses keep their ideal spacing of about one clump per foot in the Trans-Pecos, but in the Cross Timbers area, the easily over-looked Texas grama (Boutelous rigidista) and slightly taller gramas, will close ranks, and hold enough moisture in the soil to invite the next stage, the more robust Meadow Dropseeds, (Sporobolus asper), and (S. texanus). These mat-forming grasses will choke out the gramas and prepare the conditions for the next stage. Dropseed is only moderately interesting to grazers, but as the name implies, the seeds release easily for wildlife and have even provided gruel for human use. The Dropseed is a medium grass growing as high as two feet and it holds enough moisture to host the final stage grass, Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium. This grass brings the prairie into balance and can last for centuries – or until the next megadrought. This is the grass that early settlers said covered 90% of the Western Cross Timber’s prairie patches. Later I’ll explain how Sumac facilitates this restoration.