Indiangrass
Sorghastrum nutans (Linnaeus) Nash
Indiangrass: https://marylandbiodiversity.com/species/4139
Synonyms
Chrysopogon avenaceus  Chrysopogon nutans var. linnaeanus  Indian Grass 
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Status

Indiangrass is a tall, perennial, warm-season, North American prairie grass found in the central and eastern United States and Canada. This bunch-forming grass is a prominent component of the tallgrass prairie, along with Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, and Switchgrass. Indiangrass is common across most of Maryland.

Description

Indiangrass has arching, blue-green leaves and a large, plume-like, soft, golden-brown seed head. It is easy to identify because of its height and its distinctive golden inflorescence during the blooming season, late summer-early fall.

Relationships

Because Indiangrass remains upright through the winter, it provides year-round cover and nesting sites for birds, as well as nesting structure for native bees. Songbirds eat the seeds. It is relished by livestock and bison.

Indiangrass is a host plant for Pepper and Salt Skipper.

Seasonality Snapshot

Resources

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Source: Wikipedia

"Indiangrass" redirects here. It may also refer to other members of the genus Sorghastrum.

Sorghastrum nutans
Indiangrass in bloom
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Genus: Sorghastrum
Species:
S. nutans
Binomial name
Sorghastrum nutans
Synonyms[1]
  • Andropogon avenaceus Michx.
  • Andropogon nutans L.
  • Andropogon nutans var. avenaceus (Michx.) Hack.
  • Chrysopogon avenaceus (Michx.) Benth.
  • Sorghastrum avenaceum (Michx.) Nash

Sorghastrum nutans, known as Indiangrass,[2][3] is a North American prairie grass found in the United States and Canada, especially in the Great Plains and tallgrass prairies. It is sometimes called Indian grass[4], yellow Indian-grass,[2] or wood grass.[5]

Description

[edit]

Indiangrass is a warm-season perennial bunchgrass.[6] It is intolerant to shade. It grows 3 to 7 feet (1 to 2 m) tall, and is distinguished by a "rifle-sight" ligule where the leaf blade attaches to the leaf sheath. The leaf is about 3 feet (1 m) long.[7]

It blooms from late summer to early fall, producing branched clusters (panicles) of spikelets. The spikelets are golden-brown during the blooming period, and each contain one perfect floret that has three large, showy yellow stamens and two feather-like stigmas. One of the two glumes at the base of the spikelets is covered in silky white hairs. The flowers are cross-pollinated by the wind.[8]

The branches of pollinated flower clusters bend outwards. At maturity, the seeds fall to the ground.[8] There are about 175,000 seeds per pound.[7]

  • Leaves in June
    Leaves in June
  • "Rifle-sight" ligule at the base of a leaf
    "Rifle-sight" ligule at the base of a leaf
  • Flowers with yellow stamens and golden-brown spikelets
    Flowers with yellow stamens and golden-brown spikelets
  • Closeup of seeds
    Closeup of seeds

Ecology

[edit]

Sorghastrum nutans is prominent in the tallgrass prairie ecosystem and the northern, central, and Flint Hills tall grassland ecoregions, along with the grasses big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). It is also common in areas of longleaf pine.

Indiangrass is adapted in the United States from the southern border to Canada and from the eastern seaboard to Montana, Wyoming and Utah.[7]

It regrows with renewed vitality after fires, so controlled burns are used, replacing extirpated large herbivores (i.e. bison), for habitat renewal.

It is a larval host to the pepper-and-salt skipper.[9]

Culture

[edit]

Indiangrass is the official state grass of both Oklahoma[10] and South Carolina.[11]

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service lists the following uses for Sorghastrum nutans: erosion control, livestock, pollinators, restoration, and wildlife.[7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Sorghastrum nutans". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  2. ^ a b "Sorghastrum nutans". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  3. ^ NRCS. "Sorghastrum nutans". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  4. ^ Missouri Botanical Garden: Sorghastrum nutans — horticultural info.
  5. ^ "Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash GRIN-Global". npgsweb.ars-grin.gov. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  6. ^ Floridata: Sorghastrum nutans
  7. ^ a b c d "Indiangrass." Plant Fact Sheet.2011. Accessed July 26, 2015
  8. ^ a b Hilty, John (2016). "Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans)". Illinois Wildflowers.
  9. ^ The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.
  10. ^ "Oklahoma Symbols | Oklahoma Historical Society". Oklahoma Historical Society | OHS. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  11. ^ "South Carolina State House | South Carolina State Symbols". www.scstatehouse.gov. Retrieved 16 October 2024.