Schizachyrium scoparium var. stoloniferum
Schizachyrium scoparium var. divergens
creeping bluestem
little bluestem, pinehill bluestem
58-210 cm.
7-180 cm.
usually pubescent near the collars;
blades 10-39 cm long, 3.5-9 mm wide, pubescent near the collars.
densely tomentose initially, sometimes glabrate, margins usually pilose distally;
blades 12-30 cm long, 3.5-5 mm wide; initially densely tomentose, becoming glabrous.
3.5-5 mm, curving out at maturity.
3.5-6.5 mm, curving out at maturity.
2-6.5 cm, with 6-14 spikelets, usually partially to fully exserted;
internodes pubescent, hairs to 4.5 mm.
3-5 cm, with 7-12 spikelets, usually partially to wholly exserted, sometimes appearing linear;
internodes 3.5-6 mm, often sparsely pubescent, hairs 1.5-3 mm.
spikelets 5-10 mm;
calluses with hairs to 2.5 mm;
awns 6-14 mm.
spikelets 6-10 mm;
calluses about 0.3 mm, hairs to 2 mm;
awns 9-15 mm.
spikelets 0.75-4 mm, sterile, awned, awns 1-3 mm.
spikelets on the proximal portion of the rames 5-10 mm, mostly staminate, with lemmas, distal spikelets often smaller (1-4 mm) and sterile, unawned or awned, awns to 2 mm.
Schizachyrium scoparium var. stoloniferum
Schizachyrium scoparium var. divergens
Schizachyrium scoparium var. stoloniferum grows in sandy soils of woodland openings and roadsides from southern Alabama and Georgia south to the Everglades. Northern populations consist of widely spaced, weak culms growing in rather bare sand; southern populations consist of dense, vigorous stands with taller, more robust culms growing primarily along roadsides, possibly spread by grading equipment. Some clones, particularly in the south, are largely sterile.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Schizachyrium scoparium. var. divergens is common in the south central pinelands of the United States. The pubescence of the leaves varies across its range, western plants having longer and more villous leaves than those in the east and, towards Mississippi, the pubescence is confined to the sheaths. Schizachyrium scoparium var. divergens intergrades with var. scoparium.
Grelen (1974) found that plants of S. scoparium var. divergens from western Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas produced mostly staminate pedicellate spikelets, plants from southeastern Louisiana and south-eastern Mississippi produced mostly sterile pedicellate spikelets, and plants from western Mississippi varied in this character.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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