Drought threatens sustainability of agriculture throughout the world. A US native gypsum-endemic grass, Sporobolus nealleyi may harbor the unique ability to extract water during drought from gypsum rock. Though genetically similar to crops such as rice, wheat and corn, the mechanisms responsible for this behavior in S. neallyi is unknown. A genome sequence can enable initial research to identify these mechanisms to leverage in development of improved drought-tolerance in such grain crops.