Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

SWITCHGRASS

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Panicum virgatum L.

Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 2-7 feet

Family: Poaceae - Grass Family

Flowering Period: August, September

Culms:

Erect, solitary or clumped, usually un-branched above base, firm, glabrous.

Blades:

Flat, narrow, 4 to 24 inches long, to 3/5 inch wide, nearly glabrous, leaf base with triangular patch of hair on upper surface.

Sheaths:

Shorter than internodes, glabrous, often reddish or purplish at bases.

Ligules:

Dense fringes of hairs.

Inflorescences:

Panicles, open, much-branched, ovate to pyramidal, 6 to 20 inches long, usually 1/3 to 1/2 as wide as long; branches long, ascending or spreading, bearing spikelets near ends.

Spikelets:

Short-stalked, 2-flowered, egg-shaped, to 1/4 inch long, swollen, prominently nerved, tapered to sharp points; glumes unequal; lemmas 1 fertile, 1 staminate or sterile; awns absent.

Habitat:

Moist, open lowland prairies, sand prairies, and open woods, on broad range of soils.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Forage Value:

Switchgrass is very nutritious and is readily consumed by livestock. Palatability declines rapidly as plant matures. Switchgrass makes good hay when cut young.

Uses:

Many birds and mammals eat the seeds and foliage and use the plant for cover.

Comments:

Strongly rhizomatous. The roots are quite vigorous, sometimes growing 10-11 feet long.

Switchgrass