The pampa is a temperate grassland. Climate is typically semiarid or continental of the middle latitudes, with between 10 and 20 inches of precipitation a year. Much of this falls as snow, serving as reservoir of moisture for the beginning of the growing season. Summers are warm to hot, depending on latitude.
Vegetation is essentially of perennial grasses and perennial forbs and Leguminosae. There may be two or more strata of grasses depending on water availability.
Other types of the same biome have different names. It is called prairie in North America, steppe in Eurasia, veld in South Africa.
The Argentinian pampa has a warm, humid and windy climate with a wide variety of native species. Frequent fires ensure that only small plants such as grasses flourish, and there are few trees. Much of the area is used for grazing cattle, although an increasing acreage is being dedicated to soybeans.