Bluestem (4)
Bluestems can be recognized by their stout stems, which are not blue but may be reddish or purplish, basal leaves and hairy seed heads that are branched from a single point. See also Little Bluestem.
Yellow Bluestem
Bothriochloa ischaemum
Family:
Grass (Poaceae)
AKA:
King Ranch Bluestem
Photo taken on:
October 15, 2011
Location:
White Rock, NM
Life Zones:
Plains and foothills
Habitat:
Roadsides, prairies, waste ground
Grows to 3 feet tall with 2 to 8 side stems up to 4" long attached to the main
stem near the same point making a fan shape. The flowers are reddish with a bent bristle and
a tuft of white hairs at the base.
Compare to
Windmill Grass which
grows to only 2 feet tall.
Photo taken on:
October 15, 2011
Location:
White Rock, NM
Cane Bluestem
Bothriochloa barbinodis
(Andropogon barbinodis)
Family:
Grass (Poaceae)
AKA:
Cane Beardgrass
Photo taken on:
October 18, 2011
Location:
White Rock, NM
Life Zones:
Plains and foothills
Habitat:
Roadsides, prairies, waste areas
Grows to 4 ft tall with straw colored stems and showy, feathery flower heads up to 6" long. Below is Cane Bluestem in flower.
Silver Bluestem
Bothriochloa laguroides
(Andropogon saccharoides)
Family:
Grass (Poaceae)
AKA:
Silver Beardgrass
Photo taken on:
September 15, 2011
Location:
White Rock, NM
Life Zones:
Plains and foothills
Habitat:
Roadsides, prairies, waste areas
Grows to 3½ feet with plume-like flower spikes of 6 or more side stems. Distinguished by the long silky hairs on the flowers.
Sand Bluestem
Andropogon hallii
Family:
Grass (Poaceae)
AKA:
Sand Hill Bluestem, Hall's Bluestem, Hall's Beardgrass,
Prairie Bluestem
Photo taken on:
September 14, 2014
Location:
Great Sand Dunes NP, CO
Life Zones:
Plains and foothills
Habitat:
Sandy soil
A robust plant that can grow to 7 feet tall, these were 4 feet tall, in dense clumps. Leaves are green to bluish-green and flat. Flower head has two to seven side stems. After flowering the seed-heads are densely hairy.
