''Bothriochloa barbinodis'' 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 a ...

known by the common name cane bluestem. It is native to the Americas, including most of South and Central America, Mexico, and the southernmost continental United States from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. This is a perennial

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 perenni ...

growing in upright clumps 60 to 120 centimeters (24-48 inches) tall. The straw-colored stems have nodes at intervals which are fringed with fluffy hairs. The leaves are 20 to 30 centimeters (8-12 inches) long and blue-green when new, drying to a reddish yellow. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is a feathery array of spikelet units. Each unit is composed of one hairy, tan, fertile spikelet with a twisted awn up to 3.5 centimeters long twinned with a stalked, sterile spikelet which is much smaller and lacks an awn. The long-haired spikelets are wind-dispersed. In its native range, this grass is useful as a

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used ...

for grazing animals and a groundcover for revegetating cleared land.Forest Service Fire Ecology
/ref> It is very drought resistant. It is considered an indicator of

rangeland Rangelands are grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild animals. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, sava ...

damage, as it is often one of the first native species to be eliminated when an area is overgrazed. It is known elsewhere as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

and sometimes a

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

, such as in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. It is grown as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

for its showy inflorescences.

References

External links

Grass Manual Treatment: ''Bothriochloa barbinodis''Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Bothriochloa barbinodis''USDA Plants Profile for ''Bothriochloa barbinodis''''Bothriochloa barbinodis'' Photo gallery
barbinodis Bunchgrasses of North America Bunchgrasses of South America Flora of Central America Grasses of Argentina Grasses of Mexico Grasses of the United States Native grasses of California Native grasses of Texas Grasses of Alabama Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Brazil Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Panicoideae-stub