| Author | Weakley & Schori | |
| Distribution | Sandhills and Coastal Plain, including the Outer Banks/barrier islands.
Coastal Plain, southeastern VA to southern FL and eastern TX; disjunct inland to northwestern GA and northeastern AL. | |
| Abundance | Frequent on the mainland, but rare on the Outer Banks and other barrier islands. The website editors suggest a State Rank of S3S4. | |
| Habitat | Moist to wet pine savannas and flatwoods, blackwater streamhead ecotones, pitcher-plant seepages, Pond Pine woodlands, peaty pocosins. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting September-October. | |
| Identification | This is one of several NC bluestems with glaucous (chalky white or bluish white) stems and leaves. This species is taller (3-6 feet) and leafier than A. capillipes and A. dealbatus and not so white. In addition, its racemes are bunched together into large clusters (vs. few racemes in small clusters in the other two species). | |
| Taxonomic Comments | A synonym for this is Andropogon glaucopsis (Elliott) Nash; but the name "glaucopsis" was used previously for a different species and had to be replaced. Note that in RAB (1968), this taxon was included within A. virginicus, whereas NatureServe lists it as a variety of A. glomeratus -- as A. glomeratus var. glaucopsis. Needless to say, the taxonomy of the Andropogon species is still somewhat unsettled, with little agreement among authors.
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) | None | |
| State Rank | [S3S4] | |
| Global Rank | GNR [G3G5] | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
