| Section 5 » Order Cyperales » Family Poaceae |
Show/Hide Synonym
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| Andropogon ternarius | = | Andropogon ternarius var. ternarius | Flora of North America (1993b, 1997, 2000, 2002a, 2002b, 2003a, 2004b, 2005, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c, 2007a, 2009, 2010) | | | Andropogon ternarius | = | Andropogon ternarius var. ternarius | | | | Andropogon ternarius | = | Andropogon ternarius var. ternarius | Flora of Virginia | | | Andropogon ternarius | = | Andropogon ternarius var. ternarius | Weakley et al. (2011)=Y. Key adapted in part from Z. | | | Andropogon ternarius | < | Andropogon ternarius | Gleason and Cronquist (1991) | | | Andropogon ternarius | < | Andropogon ternarius | Gleason (1952) | | | Andropogon ternarius | < | Andropogon ternarius | | | | Andropogon ternarius | < | Andropogon ternarius | Radford, Ahles, and Bell (1968) | | | Andropogon ternarius | < | Andropogon ternarius | | | | Andropogon ternarius | < | Andropogon ternarius | Wofford (1989) | | | Andropogon ternarius | < | Andropogon ternarius | Wunderlin & Hansen Flora of Florida (3) | | | Andropogon ternarius | > | Andropogon ternarius var. ternarius | Fernald (1950) | | | Andropogon ternarius | > | Andropogon ternarius var. glaucescens | Fernald (1950) | | | Source: Weakley's Flora |
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| Author | Michaux | |
| Distribution | Throughout the state; apparently scarce in the higher Mountains and on the Outer Banks.
DE to KY and MO, south to FL and TX. | |
| Abundance | Common throughout, except uncommon in the higher Mountains and far northeastern mainland and adjacent Outer Banks. | |
| Habitat | Dry to mesic pine-oak and pine-oak-hickory woodlands and wooded openings. Avoids deep shade, so is also found in wooded edges, outcrop margins, roadsides, powerline clearings. |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting September-October. A large population is very handsome, with their white inflorescences. | |
| Identification | When the fruits are mature, this is a quite easy species to identify, due to the paired racemes (each raceme averaging 2 inches long) atop the stems. These are white or near-white in color due to dense hairs. When immature, the racemes are tight together and appear as one, thus causing confusion with some individuals of Broomsedge (A. virginicus) and even Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium). | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None. Seemingly one of the very few current or former NC Andropogon species that has not been split from, or lumped into, other species over the past 50 or more years!
While the genus Andropogon is quite easy to recognize in the field, ID of species is not so easy and there are no shortcuts. Readers are strongly advised to read the introductory paragraphs in Weakley (2018) and to use his key. Once one has successfully keyed out several species, or compared collections with verified specimens, one can learn to recognize them in the field. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | Split Bluestem, Silver Bluestem, Paintbrush Bluestem | |
| State Rank | S5 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FACU link |
| USACE-emp | FACU link |
