Page authors: Don Knoke, David Giblin
Schizachyrium scoparium
broom bluestem, little bluestem
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, but apparently not in Oregon, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.

Habitat: Sagebrush desert.

Flowers: July-September

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Threatened in Washington (WANHP)

Pollination: Wind

Description:
General:

Tufted perennial, but also with rhizomes, the culms 8-10 dm. tall, solid, grooved above the nodes.

Leaves:

Sheaths open, usually glabrous, strongly keeled; ligules 1-1.5 mm. long, puberulent; blades flat or folded, 2-5 mm. broad, mostly glabrous.

Flowers:

Inflorescence a branched panicle, each branch ending in a single, arching raceme 3-5 cm. long; spikelets in pairs, one sessile and one pedicellate, the pedicellate spikelet 4-5 mm. long, sterile, with an awn 1-4 mm. long; sessile spikelet 2-flowered, 7-9 mm. long, with an awn 10-13 mm. long, the upper flower perfect, the lower an empty lemma; palea much reduced, lacerate.

Accepted Name:
Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash
Publication: Fl. S.E. U.S. [Small]. 59. 1903.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Andropogon scoparius Michx. [HC]
Andropogon scoparius J. Presl, misapplied
Infraspecies:
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Schizachyrium scoparium in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Schizachyrium scoparium checklist entry

OregonFlora: Schizachyrium scoparium information

E-Flora BC: Schizachyrium scoparium atlas page

CalPhotos: Schizachyrium scoparium photos

11 photographs:
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