bluestem

bluestem, (genus Andropogon), genus of approximately 100 species of grasses in the family Poaceae. Bluestems are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical zones and can be annual or perennial. Several species are grown as hay and forage plants.

Bluestem grasses are coarse, sometimes tufted plants with flat or folded leaf blades and solid or pithy stems. The stems are often hairy, sometimes reddish or greenish in appearance. Several species have rhizomes (underground stems) and can spread vegetatively. The flower spikelets are typically clustered at the stem tips or in the leaf axils and produce fruits with straight or twisted awns.

Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), often more than 2 metres (6.5 feet) tall, is the characteristic plant species of the North American tallgrass prairie. It is sometimes known as turkeyfoot, in reference to its forked flower cluster, and is a good hay and pasture plant. Sand bluestem (A. gerardii, subspecies hallii), with yellowish spikelets, grows on sand hills in the central and western United States. Broom sedge, or yellow bluestem (A. virginicus), and bushy beardgrass, or bush bluestem (A. glomeratus), are coarse grasses, unsuitable for forage, that grow in poor soils in eastern and southern North America.

The taxonomy of the genus has undergone a number of major revisions, and a number of former members have been reclassified. Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, formerly A. scoparius), is 0.5–1.5 metres (1.6–5 feet) tall and is found in dry prairie areas of North America. Silver beardgrass, or silver bluestem (Bothriochloa saccharoides, formerly A. saccharoides), reaches 0.6 to 1.3 metres (about 2 to 4 feet) in height and has silvery white flower clusters 7–15 cm (about 3–6 inches) long; it is a forage grass in the southwestern United States.