Andropogon brachystachyus Chapm.

Short Spike Bluestem

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Short Spike Bluestem is a native perennial warm season bunch grass in the grass family (Poaceae). It is found in the southern portion of Alabama. Short Spike Bluestem grows in seasonally wet, sandy soils of flatwoods, savannahs, and pitcher plant bog margins. It is a perennial forming small bunches. Flowering stems are 4-8 feet in height. The stems and leaf sheaths are smooth and not glaucous. Leaves are alternate, linear, and glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Flowers are produced in spikelets. The spikelets are arranged in pairs (the pedicellate spikelet vestigial or absent) on a raceme. The racemes are fully exserted from the sheath and curve outwards. The fruit is an awned grain. Short Spike Bluestem is not “weedy” like some other Bluestems, and is usually only found in relatively intact ecosystems.--A. Diamond

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Native

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