Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)

Origin: Native to North America
Use: Perennial, warm season native grass that provides poor grazing for wildlife; good grazing for livestock
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Plant Description:
General  Characteristics of Big Bluestem
Life Span  Perennial
Growth Form  4-6 feet tall, bunchgrass, lower leaves covered with silky hair.
Management:
Seeding Rate 
40" Rows:  Broadcast: 


2 pounds pure live seed per acre
6 pounds pure live seed per acre
Planting Date  March-May
Planting Depth 0.25 inch
pH requirement 6.0 to 7.5
Rainfall requirement 12 to 55 inches
Soil texture  Sandy: 
Loam: 
Clay: 

Moderate
High
Moderate
Cold Tolerance: High
General  Provides poor grazing for wildlife; good grazing for livestock
ID Features:
Habit: 		Large, often glaucous perennial, usually in large clumps, sometimes with short rhizomes.
Culms: 		Robust, 1-2 m. tall, in large tufts, sparingly branching from the upper nodes.
Blades: 	Flat, elongate, 15-60 cm. long, 5-12 mm. wide, usually glabrous and smooth beneath,
		slightly scabrous above and somewhat hairy at the base, margins scabrous.
Sheaths: 	Mostly shorter than the internodes, often glaucous, glabrous, or sometimes hairy, toward the base.
Ligule: 	Membranous, about 3 mm. long, sometimes fringed.
Inflorescence: 	Spikelike racemes on the long-exserted terminal peduncle, in 2's-6's, 5-10 cm. long,
		usually purplish, sometimes yellowish, rachis straight, the joints and pedicels hairy on the sides
		and at the base, bearing spikelets in pairs at each node, one sessile and perfect, the other
		pedicellate and staminate (occasionally perfect).
Spikelets:	Sessile spikelets 7-10 mm. long, lanceolate; pedicellate spikelet about as large, staminate, awnless.
Glumes: 	Of fertile spikelet subequal, the first dorsally flattened, slightly grooved, usually scabrous
		with a strong nerve near each margin, the midnerve faint; second glume scabrous on the keel,
		glabrous to hispidulous, those of pedicellate spikelet similar.
Lemma: 	        Of sessile spikelet about as long as the glumes, hyaline, 2-toothed at the apex, bearing a bent
		spiral scabrous awn 7-18 mm. long; that of the pedicellate spikelet hyaline, awnless.
Palea:	 	Small, hyaline.
Habitat: 	Prairies, plains, dry soil and open woods.  July-September.
Use: 		An important forage grass in the prairie and mixed prairie areas, especially abundant
		and valuable in the Flint Hills region.
Synonyms:	Andropogon chrysocomus Nash
		Andropogon furcatus Muhl. ex Willd.
		Andropogon gerardii Vitman var. chrysocomus (Nash) Fern.
		Andropogon provincialis Lam.
Special Notes:
  • One of the big four grasses of the American tallgrass prairie (Big bluestems, Little bluestem, Yellow indiangrass and Switchgrass).
  • Reproduces primarily via rhizomes and blooms from August to November. Seeds mature in the fall.
  • Contributes to wildlife habitat for cover, nesting and denning.

    Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) Information #1
    Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) Information #2
    Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) Information #3
    Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) Information #4
    Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) Information #5

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    Regional Adaptation
    Variety
    Coast Saline Prairie
    Coast Prairie
    East Texas Timberlands
    Claypan Area
    Blackland Prairie
    East Cross Timbers
    West Cross Timbers
    Grand Prairie
    North Central Prairies
    Central Basin
    Edwards Plateau
    Northern Rio Grande Plain
    Western Rio Grande Plain
    Central Rio Grande Plain
    Lower Rio Grande Valley
    Rolling Plains
    High Plains
    Trans-Pecos
    Bluestem
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X