Common Name: GRASS FAMILY Habit: Annual to woody perennial herb; roots generally fibrous. Stem: generally round, hollow; nodes swollen, solid. Leaf: alternate, 2-ranked, generally linear, parallel-veined; sheath generally open; ligule membranous or hairy, at blade base. Inflorescence: various (of generally many spikelets). Spikelet: glumes generally 2; florets (lemma, palea, flower) 1--many; lemma generally membranous, sometimes glume-like; palea generally +- transparent, +- enclosed by lemma. Flower: generally bisexual, minute; perianth vestigial; stamens generally 3; stigmas generally 2, generally plumose. Fruit: grain, sometimes achene- or utricle-like. Genera In Family: 650--900 genera; +- 10550 species: worldwide; greatest economic importance of any family (wheat, rice, maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, forage crops, ornamental, weeds; thatching, weaving, building materials). Note: Generally wind-pollinated. Achnatherum, Ampelodesmos, Hesperostipa, Nassella, Piptatherum, Piptochaetium, Ptilagrostis moved to Stipa; Elytrigia, Leymus, Pascopyrum, Pseudoroegneria, Taeniatherum to Elymus; Hierochloe to Anthoxanthum; Lolium, Vulpia to Festuca; Lycurus to Muhlenbergia; Monanthochloe to Distichlis; Pleuraphis to Hilaria; Rhynchelytrum to Melinis. The following taxa (in genera not included here), recorded in California from historical collections or reported in literature, are extirpated, lacking vouchers, or not considered naturalized: Acrachne racemosa (Roth) Ohwi, Allolepis texana (Vasey) Soderstr. & H.F. Decker, Amphibromus nervosus (Hook. f.) Baill., Axonopus affinis Chase, Axonopus fissifolius (Raddi) Kuhlm., Coix lacryma-jobi L., Cutandia memphitica (Spreng.) K. Richt., Dinebra retroflexa (Vahl) Panz., Eremochloa ciliaris (L.) Merr., Eustachys distichophylla (Lag.) Nees, Gaudinia fragilis (L.) P. Beauv., Miscanthus sinensis Andersson, Neyraudia arundinacea (L.) Henrard, Phyllostachys aurea Rivière & C. Rivière, Phyllostachys bambusoides Siebold & Zuccarini, Rottboellia cochinchinensis (Lour.) Clayton, Schedonnardus paniculatus (Nutt.) Branner & Coville, Schizachyrium cirratum (Hack.) Wooton & Standl., Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash, Themeda quadrivalvis (L.) Kuntze, Thysanolaena latifolia (Hornem.) Honda, Tribolium obliterum (Hemsl.) Renvoize, Zea mays L., Zizania palustris L. var. interior (Fassett) Dore, Zoysia japonica Steud. Paspalum pubiflorum E. Fourn., Paspalum quadrifarium Lam., are now reported for southern California (J Bot Res Inst Texas 4:761--770). See Glossary p. 30 for illustrations of general family characteristics. eFlora Treatment Author: James P. Smith, Jr., except as noted Scientific Editor: James P. Smith, Jr., J. Travis Columbus, Dieter H. Wilken.
Common Name: BLUESTEM Habit: Perennial herb, cespitose. Stem: erect, branched; nodes generally hairy. Leaf: cauline; ligule membranous, minutely ciliate; blade flat or folded. Inflorescence: panicle-like with 2 or more spike-like branches, 1 or compactly clustered, partly enclosed in leaf sheaths; axes breaking apart with age; spikelet sessile, subtended by hairy, naked stalk and axis segment, falling with stalk and axis segment as 1 unit. Spikelet: glumes +- = florets, lanceolate; florets 2, lower vestigial, upper fertile; lemma translucent, awned; palea << lemma or 0; stamens 1--3. Fruit: oblong, +- brown or +- purple. Etymology: (Greek: man beard, from hairy staminate spikelets) Note: Some species cultivated for forage, revegetation. eFlora Treatment Author: Christopher S. Campbell & Kelly W. Allred Reference: Campbell 2003 FNANM 25:649--664 Unabridged Reference: 1983 J Arnold Arbor 64:171--254
Andropogon virginicus L. var. virginicus
NATURALIZED Stem: 0.5--2 m. Leaf: lower blades 1--5 dm, 1.5--5 mm wide. Inflorescence: many, compactly clustered. Spikelet: 3.5--4 mm; callus hairs 1--2.5 mm; awn 0.5--2 mm. Chromosomes: 2n=20. Ecology: Moist, open, disturbed areas, seeps; Elevation: < 300 m. Bioregional Distribution: NCoRO, CaRF, n&c SNF, n SNH, ScV, SnFrB; Distribution Outside California: native to central and eastern United States, Mexico, South America, widely naturalized; other varieties in eastern and southeastern United States. Flowering Time: Sep--Jan Jepson eFlora Author: Christopher S. Campbell & Kelly W. Allred Reference: Campbell 2003 FNANM 25:649--664 Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Andropogon glomeratus var. scabriglumis Next taxon: Anthoxanthum
Botanical illustration including Andropogon virginicus var. virginicus
Citation for this treatment: Christopher S. Campbell & Kelly W. Allred 2012, Andropogon virginicus var. virginicus, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=53997, accessed on April 24, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 24, 2024.
No expert verified images found for Andropogon virginicus var. virginicus.
MAP CONTROLS 1. You can change the display of the base map layer control box in the upper right-hand corner.
2. County and Jepson Region polygons can be turned off and on using the check boxes.
(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).
Data provided by the participants of the
Consortium of California Herbaria.
MAP LEGEND View all CCH records All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues.
READ ABOUT YELLOW FLAGS
CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).