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crimson bluestem

dune bluestem, shore bluestem, shore little bluestem

Habit Plants cespitose. Plants cespitose, sometimes appearing rhizomatous, glaucous.
Culms

40-120 cm, erect, not rooting or branching at the lower nodes, glabrous.

39-160 cm, branching at the lower nodes, often rooting from nodes in contact with the soil;

lower internodes usually shortened and compressed.

Sheaths

glabrous, rounded;

ligules 0.7-2 mm;

blades 7-20 cm long, 1-6 mm wide, usually with long, papillose-based hairs basally, glabrous elsewhere, sometimes scabrous, without a longitudinal stripe of white, spongy tissue.

Leaves

glaucous;

collars usually constricted, elongate;

auricles flexible, yellow;

ligules 1.5-2 mm;

blades 10-30 cm long, 3.5-6.5 mm wide, without a longitudinal stripe of white, spongy tissue.

Peduncles

4-6 cm;

rames 4-15 cm, not open, usually almost fully exserted at maturity;

internodes 4-6 mm, straight, from mostly glabrous with a tuft of hairs at the base to densely hirsute all over.

0.5-5 mm;

rames 3-9 cm, with 13-19 spikelets, arcuate at maturity;

internodes 4-6 mm, densely villous, hairs 3-7.5 mm.

Pedicels

3-6 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm wide at the base, gradually widening to about 0.6-0.8 mm at the top, straight.

5-7 mm, hairy distally, hairs 5-7 mm.

Sessile

spikelets 5-9 mm;

calluses 0.5-1 mm, hairs to 2 mm;

lower glumes glabrous or densely pubescent;

upper lemmas cleft for (2/3)3/4-7/8 of their length;

awns 15-25 mm.

spikelets 6-10 mm;

calluses 0.2-0.5 mm, glabrous;

lower glumes glabrous;

awns 9-20 mm.

Pedicellate

spikelets 3-5 mm, usually evidently shorter than the sessile spikelets, sterile or staminate, awned, awns 0.3-6 mm.

spikelets 1.5-5 mm, often staminate, unawned or awned, awns to 3.5 mm.

2n

= 40.

Schizachyrium sanguineum

Schizachyrium littorale

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AZ; FL; GA; NM; TX; PR; Virgin Islands
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; CT; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; LA; MA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; PA; TX; VA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Schizachyrium sanguineum extends from the southern United States to Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

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

Schizachyrium littorale is restricted to shifting, coastal sand dunes of the Gulf, Atlantic, and Great Lakes coasts of the United States. It often appears rhizomatous because the lower nodes are frequently covered by sand.

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

Key
1. Lower glumes of the sessile spikelets glabrous or scabrous; pedicels ciliate on 1 edge
var. sanguineum
1. Lower glumes of the sessile spikelets pubescent to hirsute; pedicels ciliate on both edges
var. hirtiflorum
Source FNA vol. 25, p. 674. FNA vol. 25, p. 672.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Andropogoneae > Schizachyrium Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Andropogoneae > Schizachyrium
Sibling taxa
S. cirratum, S. littorale, S. maritimum, S. niveum, S. rhizomatum, S. scoparium, S. spadiceum, S. tenerum
S. cirratum, S. maritimum, S. niveum, S. rhizomatum, S. sanguineum, S. scoparium, S. spadiceum, S. tenerum
Subordinate taxa
S. sanguineum var. hirtiflorum, S. sanguineum var. sanguineum
Synonyms S. scoparium var. littorale, S. scoparium subsp. littorale, Andropogon scoparius var. littoralis, Andropogon scoparius var. ducis
Name authority (Retz.) Alston (Nash) E.P. Bicknell
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