Flora of North America species comparison

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Andropogon arctatus

pinewoods bluestem
Habit Plants cespitose or somewhat rhizomatous, upper portion dense, oblong to ovate.
Culms

90-170 cm;

internodes occasionally somewhat glaucous just below the nodes;

branches straight, erect to ascending.
Sheaths

smooth, rarely somewhat scabrous;

ligules 0.3-0.9 mm, sometimes ciliate, cilia to 0.5 mm;

blades 15-35 cm long, 3-8 mm wide, glabrous or densely pubescent, hairs spreading.
Inflorescence units

5-45 per culm; subtending sheaths (3.3)3.8-6.8(9) cm long, (2.5)3.2-4(5) mm wide;

peduncles (9)26-66(115) mm, with 2(4) rames;

rames (2.2)2.6-4.3(5.3) cm, usually exserted at maturity, pubescence either evenly distributed or more dense distally within each internode.
Sessile

spikelets (4.3)4.9-5.4(6.1) mm;

callus hairs 1.5-2.5 mm;

keels of lower glumes scabrous from below the midpoint;

awns 5-16 mm;

anthers 1(3), 2-3.5 mm, red.
Pedicellate

spikelets vestigial or absent.
2n

= 20.

Andropogon arctatus
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; NC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Andropogon arctatus grows in flatwoods, bogs, and scrublands of southern Alabama and Florida. Its flowering appears to be stimulated by fire but, unlike other members of sect. Leptopogon in the Flora region, the effect lasts only one or two years, the plants then remaining vegetative until the next fire occurs. It is similar to A. ternarius, but differs in its long, usually solitary anther and shorter spikelets.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 25, p. 655.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Andropogoneae > Andropogon > sect. Leptopogon
Sibling taxa
A. bicornis, A. brachystachyus, A. floridanus, A. gerardii, A. glomeratus, A. gracilis, A. gyrans, A. hallii, A. liebmannii, A. longiberbis, A. ternarius, A. tracyi, A. virginicus
Name authority Chapm.
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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