Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

SILVER BLUESTEM

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Bothriochloa laguroides (DC. ) Herter subsp. torreyana (Steud. ) Allred & Gould

[=Andropogon saccharoides Sw. var. torreyanus (Steud. ) Hack.]

[=Bothriochloa saccharoides (Sw. ) Rydb. var. torreyanus (Steud. ) Gould]

Ottawa County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 18 - 42 inches

Family: Poaceae - Grass Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Culms:

Erect or ascending, solid, often branching below, grooved on 1 side; often short, nodes with flattened hairs.

Blades:

Flat or folded, 1 to 10 inches long, to 1/4 inch wide, waxy, glabrous or thinly hairy at collar, midrib prominent; margins brownish to whitish; tips taper to points.

Sheaths:

Shorter than internodes, smooth, slightly keeled near collar.

Ligules:

Membranous, margins notched to entire.

Inflorescences:

Panicles, 2.5 to 6 inches long, broader near middle or base, plume-like, silky, silvery-white; branches 6 or more, each 1 to 1.5 inch long.

Spikelets:

Paired, lower spikelet sessile and perfect, upper spikelet stalked and sterile; first glume silky hairy at base; fertile lemmas with awns 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, bent.

Habitat:

Dry prairies, roadsides, waste areas, and rocky slopes, particularly on sandy and limestone sites.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Forage Value:

Fair for livestock and wildlife but is usually only grazed when young.

Uses:

The Kiowa used the stems for toothpicks.

Comments:

Tufted. Silver bluestem spreads quickly in disturbed or overgrazed areas.

Silver bluestem