Schizachyrium scoparium

From Coastal Plain Plants Wiki
Revision as of 14:24, 6 November 2018 by Asnyder (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search

Common name: pinehill bluestem [1], common little bluestem [1], creeping little bluestem [1], little bluestem [2]

Schizachyrium scoparium
Schizachyrium scoparium IWL.jpg
Photo by John Hilty hosted at IllinoisWildflowers.info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Liliopsida - Moncots
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Schizachyrium
Species: S. scoparium
Binomial name
Schizachyrium scoparium
(Michx.) Nash
SCHI SCOP DIST.JPG
Natural range of Schizachyrium scoparium from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Taxonomic Notes

Synonyms: (for var. divergens) Andropogon scoparius Michaux var. divergens Hackel; Andropogon divergens; (for var. scoparium) S. scoparium; S. scoparium ssp. scoparium; (for var. stoloniferum) S. stoloniferum Nash; Andropogon stolonifer (Nash) A.S. Hitchcock

Varieties: Schizachyrium scoparium (Michaux) Nash var. divergens (Hackel) Gould; Schizachyrium scoparium (Michaux) Nash var. scoparium; Schizachyrium scoparium (Michaux) Nash var. stoloniferum (Nash) J. Wipff

Description

S. scoparium is a perennial graminoid of the Poaceae family native to North America and Canada and introduced to Hawaii. [2]

Distribution

S. scoparium is found: everywhere in the United States excluding Oregon and Nevada; every region in Canada; every island in Hawaii. [2]

Ecology

Habitat

S. scoparium proliferates in various open habitats, in a wide range of moist to dry habitats, fall-line sandhills in the inner Coastal Plain, perhaps in other dry habitats. [1] It also occurs often in relic P. palustris/wiregrass communities. [3] Specimens have been collected from wet pine flatwoods, palmetto slash pine woodland, oak-palmetto woodland, blaffs along river, treeless chalk glade, wet road ditch, cypress swamp, dry glade, palm hammock, sand-pine oak woodland, slashpine savanna, longleaf pine sand ridge, pine flatwoods, longleaf pine wiregrass savanna, upland old field, pond pine flatwoods, and open river banks.[4]

Phenology

S. scoparium has been observed to flower in November. [5]

Fire ecology

S. scoparium is highly fire tolerant, resprouting quickly following fire, and is the dominant grass species in some fire-dependent communities (e.g., western upland longleaf pine forest).[6]


Use by animals

S. scoparium has medium palatability for browsing animals and high palatability for grazing animals. [2]

Conservation and Management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Weakley, A. S. (2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Herbarium.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 USDA Plant Database https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SCSC
  3. Andreu, M. G., et al. (2009). "Can managers bank on seed banks when restoring Pinus taeda L. plantations in Southwest Georgia?" Restoration Ecology 17: 586-596.
  4. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2018. Collectors: R.K. Godfrey, Angus Gholson, Cecil Slaughter, Loran C. Anderson, Mark A> Garland, Marc Minno, Wilson Baker, Ann F. Johnson, R. Komarek, R. Kral, Richard S. Mitchell, R. E. Perdue, A.F. Clewell, Robert Blaisdell, Robert Lazor, Ginny Vail, Sidney McDaniel. States and counties: Georgia (Grady, Thomas, Baker) Alabama (Crenshaw) Louisiana (Winn) Florida (Grady, Okaloosa, Indian River, Franklin, Gadsden, Clay, Wakulla, Jackson, Volusia, Flagler, Leon, Walton, Bay, Escambia, Liberty, Columbia, Osceola, Marion, Taylor, Madison, Levy, Dixie, Baker, Calhoun, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Nassau)
  5. Nelson, G. PanFlora: Plant data for the eastern United States with emphasis on the Southeastern Coastal Plains, Florida, and the Florida Panhandle. www.gilnelson.com/PanFlora/ Accessed: 29 MAY 2018
  6. Smith, L. 2009. The natural communities of Louisiana. Louisiana Natural Heritage Program, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, 46 pp.