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Springfield bluestem, Springfield's beardgrass

Edwards Plateau beardgrass, Merrills bluestem

Culms

30-80 cm, erect, unbranched;

nodes prominently bearded, hairs 3-7 mm, spreading, silvery-white.

35-65 cm, slender, stiffly erect, rarely geniculate;

lower nodes shortly hairy, hairs shorter than 3 mm, usually off-white and ascending;

upper nodes glabrous or glabrate.

Leaves

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.

mostly basal, glaucous;

ligules 1-1.5 mm;

blades 10-25 cm long, 1-2(3.5) mm wide, flat to rolled, with 3-7 mm hairs below the middle.

Panicles

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.

6-12 cm, loose, fan-shaped;

rachises shorter than 5 cm, with 3-6 branches;

branches longer than the rachises, not rebranched, with 1 rame;

rame internodes with 3-5 mm marginal hairs.

Sessile

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 5-8 mm, lanceolate;

lower glumes 5.5-7 mm, glabrous, shiny, with a deep dorsal pit, tapering to a narrow, slightly bifid apex;

awns 20-28 mm;

anthers 0.5-1 mm.

Pedicellate

spikelets 3.5-5.5 mm, sterile.

spikelets 2.5-3.5 mm, sterile.

2n

= 120.

= 60.

Bothriochloa springfieldii

Bothriochloa edwardsiana

Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; LA; NM; TX; UT
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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 edwardsiana grows in the rocky plains and prairies of the Edwards Plateau of Texas, on calcareous soil, at 300-600 m. It also grows in northern Mexico and Uruguay. It resembles B. hybrida in some respects, but that species has a more robust habit, predominantly cauline foliage, and wider leaf blades.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 644. FNA vol. 25, p. 644.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Andropogoneae > Bothriochloa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Andropogoneae > Bothriochloa
Sibling taxa
B. alta, B. barbinodis, B. bladhii, B. edwardsiana, B. exaristata, B. hybrida, B. ischaemum, B. laguroides, B. longipaniculata, B. pertusa, B. wrightii
B. alta, B. barbinodis, B. bladhii, B. exaristata, B. hybrida, B. ischaemum, B. laguroides, B. longipaniculata, B. pertusa, B. springfieldii, B. wrightii
Synonyms Andropogon springfieldii
Name authority (Gould) Parodi (Gould) Parodi
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