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bushy bluestem

bushy beardgrass, bushy bluestem

Habit Plants oblong to pyramidal in the upper portion. Plants cespitose, upper portion dense, oblong to oblanceolate or obpyramidal.
Culms

60-160 cm;

internodes not glaucous.

20-250 cm;

internodes green, sometimes glaucous;

branches mostly erect, straight.

Sheaths

(2)2.5-3.4(4.7) mm wide, scabrous;

ligules sometimes ciliate, cilia to 0.3 mm;

blades green, usually scabrous.

usually scabrous, sometimes smooth;

ligules 0.6-2.2 mm, sometimes ciliate, cilia to 0.9 mm;

blades 13-109 cm long, 2.9-9.5 mm wide, glabrous or sparsely to densely pubescent, hairs usually spreading, rarely appressed.

Inflorescence units

10-600 per culm; subtending sheaths (2.0)2.9-4.4(6.5) cm long, (1.5)2.3-3.4(4.4) mm wide;

peduncles (1)6-14(60) mm, with 2(4) rames;

rames (1)1.7-2.5(3.5) cm, exserted or not at maturity, pubescence sparse basally and increasing in density distally within each internode.

Subtending

sheaths of inflorescence units usually 2.5-3.4 mm wide;

peduncles (4)11-35(60) mm;

rames usually 2.1-2.9 cm, exerted.

Keels

of lower glumes usually smooth below midlength, scabrous distally;

anthers eventually deciduous.

Sessile

spikelets 3-5 mm;

callus hairs 1-2.5 mm;

keels of lower glumes sometimes scabrous below midlength, usually scabrous distally;

awns 6-19 mm;

anthers 1(3), 0.5-1.5 mm, yellow, red, or purple.

Pedicellate

spikelets vestigial or absent, sterile.

2n

= 20.

Andropogon glomeratus var. glomeratus

Andropogon glomeratus

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; KY; LA; MA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; WV; HI
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; KY; LA; MA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; WV; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Andropogon glomeratus var. glomeratus grows in bogs, swamps, savannahs, flatwoods, and ditches of the southeastern United States.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Andropogon glomeratus hybridizes with both A. longiberbis and A. virginicus. Some of its varieties are morphologically similar to the latter species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Blades glaucous, glabrous, and smooth
var. glaucopsis
1. Blades green, often pubescent or scabrous
→ 2
2. Sheaths subtending the inflorescence units 1.5-3 mm wide; leaf sheaths usually smooth; ligules ciliate, the cilia 0.2-0.9 mm long
var. pumilus
2. Sheaths subtending the inflorescence units (1.5)2.3-3.4(4.4) mm wide; leaf sheaths often scabrous; ligules, when ciliate, with the cilia no more than 0.5 mm long.
→ 3
3. Keels of the lower glumes scabrous below and beyond midlength
var. scabriglumis
3. Keels of the lower glumes usually smooth below midlength, scabrous distally.
→ 4
4. Upper portion of the plants oblong to obpyramidal; mature peduncles (4)11-35(60) mm long; anthers eventually falling
var. glomeratus
4. Upper portion of the plants cylindrical to oblong; mature peduncles 2-5 (8) mm long; withered remnants of anthers retained within the spikelets
var. hirsutior
Source FNA vol. 25, p. 664. FNA vol. 25, p. 661.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Andropogoneae > Andropogon > sect. Leptopogon > Andropogon glomeratus Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Andropogoneae > Andropogon > sect. Leptopogon
Sibling taxa
A. glomeratus var. glaucopsis, A. glomeratus var. hirsutior, A. glomeratus var. pumilus, A. glomeratus var. scabriglumis
A. arctatus, A. bicornis, A. brachystachyus, A. floridanus, A. gerardii, A. gracilis, A. gyrans, A. hallii, A. liebmannii, A. longiberbis, A. ternarius, A. tracyi, A. virginicus
Subordinate taxa
A. glomeratus var. glaucopsis, A. glomeratus var. glomeratus, A. glomeratus var. hirsutior, A. glomeratus var. pumilus, A. glomeratus var. scabriglumis
Synonyms A. virginicus var. abbreviatus
Name authority unknown (Walter) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.
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