Bothriochloa springfieldii
Bothriochloa barbinodis
Springfield bluestem, Springfield's beardgrass
beard grass, cane beardgrass, cane bluestem
30-80 cm, erect, unbranched;
nodes prominently bearded, hairs 3-7 mm, spreading, silvery-white.
60-120 cm tall, rarely more than 2 mm thick, erect, geniculate at the base, often branched at maturity, not glaucous below the nodes;
nodes hirsute, hairs 3-4 mm, mostly erect to ascending, tan or off-white.
mostly basal;
ligules 1-2.5 mm;
blades 5-30 cm long, 2-3(5) mm wide, flat to folded, glabrous or sparsely hispid adaxially, pilose near the throat.
cauline;
ligules 1-2 mm, often erose;
blades 20-30 cm long, 2-7 mm wide, not glaucous, glabrous or sparingly pilose near the throat.
4-9 cm, oblong to fan-shaped;
rachises 1-5 cm, with 2-9 branches;
branches 4-8 cm, longer than the rachises, with 1(2) rames;
rame internodes with a membranous groove wider than the margins, margins densely white-villous, hairs 5-10 mm, obscuring the sessile spikelets.
5-14(20) cm on the larger shoots, oblong to somewhat fan-shaped, silvery-white;
rachises 5-10 cm, straight, exserted or partially included in the sheath, with numerous branches;
branches 4-9 cm, erect, with several rames;
rame internodes with a membranous groove wider than the margins, margins densely pilose, longest hairs 3-7 mm, concentrated distally.
spikelets 5.5-8.5 mm, lanceolate;
lower glumes densely short-pilose on the lower M, sometimes with a dorsal pit;
awns 18-26 mm;
anthers 1-1.5 mm.
spikelets 4.5-7.3 mm;
lower glumes short pilose, with or without a dorsal pit;
awns 20-35 mm;
anthers 0.5-1 mm, often remaining within the spikelet.
spikelets 3.5-5.5 mm, sterile.
spikelets 3-4 mm, narrowly lanceolate, sterile.
= 120.
= 180.
Bothriochloa springfieldii
Bothriochloa barbinodis
Bothriochloa springfieldii grows in rocky uplands, ravines, plains, sandy areas, and roadsides, from southern Utah to western Texas and Mexico at 900-2500 m. and, as a disjunct in northwest Louisiana. It differs from B. barbinodis in its less robust habit, narrower blades, longer nodal hairs, and fewer, more hairy panicle branches, and from B. edwardsiana in its pubescent nodes and wider, non-ciliate leaf blades.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Bothriochloa barbinodis is a common species, at 500-1200 m, along roadsides, drainage ways, and gravelly slopes in desert grasslands, from the southwestern United States through Mexico and Central America to Bolivia and Argentina, and has been found in the Hawaiian Islands. Plants with a pit on the back of their lower glumes occur sporadically; they do not differ in any other respect from those without pits. The species is sometimes used as an ornamental. It is tolerant of coastal conditions and will grow as far north as Vancouver, British Columbia.
Bothriochloa barbinodis has been confused with three other species in the Flora region. It differs from B. wrightii in not having glaucous foliage, and in having oblong to merely somewhat fan-shaped panicles with pedicellate spikelets that are definitely shorter than the sessile spikelets; from B. aha in having shorter culms, panicles, and nodal hairs; and from B. springfieldii in having taller culms, wider leaves, shorter nodal hairs, and more, less hairy panicles branches.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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