''Andropogon glomeratus'' is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

known by the common names bushy bluestem and bushy beardgrass. This

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial ...

is native to the Americas, where it is widespread. It has also naturalized in other areas. The

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

name ''

Andropogon ''Andropogon'' ( common names: beard grass, bluestem grass, broomsedge) is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to much of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as southern Europe and various oceanic islands. Over 100 spec ...

'' comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

words 'aner' or 'andros' meaning "man" and 'pogon' meaning "beard", in reference to the hairs on the spikelets of certain species in this genus. The specific epithet ''glomeratus'' means "bunched", in reference to the species' bushy and broom-like inflorescences.

Description

This grass reaches heights approaching two meters (6 feet) and has large, fluffy cream-colored

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s. Each dense, tufted inflorescence has several pairs of hairy

spikelets A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the flowers of grasses, sedges and some other Monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the spikelet that ...

. The leaves may reach over a meter in length and are typically blue-green in the summer and coppery-red in the fall.

Cultivation

This plant does best in moist soils, and is found naturally in areas such as swamps, wet savannas, pine flatwoods, bogs, and fens. It prefers full sun, and is best suited to

USDA hardiness zones A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

5–9.

Uses

It is cultivated as an

ornamental grass Ornamental grasses are grasses grown as ornamental plants. Ornamental grasses are popular in many colder hardiness zones for their resilience to cold temperatures and aesthetic value throughout fall and winter seasons. Classifications Along ...

. This species also has potential as a

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...

and is easily spread via seed contamination. It has been declared a weed in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and a potentially invasive weed in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The seeds are eaten by songbirds and small mammals, while the larvae of certain butterflies feed on the plant.

References

External links

''Andropogon glomeratus''.
Grass Manual Treatment.
''Andropogon glomeratus''.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. University of Florida IFAS. * glomeratus Bunchgrasses of North America Bunchgrasses of South America {{Panicoideae-stub