POACEAE

GRASS FAMILY

James P. Smith, Jr., except as specified

Annual to bamboo-like; roots generally fibrous
Stem generally round, hollow; nodes swollen, solid
Leaves alternate, 2-ranked, generally linear; 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; stamens generally 3; stigmas generally 2, generally plumose
Fruit: achene-like grain
Genera in family: 650–900 genera; ± 10,000 species: worldwide; greatest economic importance of any family (wheat, rice, maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, forage crops, ornamental, weeds; thatching, weaving, building materials)
Reference: [Hitchcock 1951 Manual grasses US, USDA Misc Publ 200; Clayton & Renvoise 1986 Kew Bull Add Series 13]
See Glossary p. 26 for illustrations of general family characteristics. Generally wind-pollinated.

ANDROPOGON

BLUESTEM

Kelly W. Allred

Perennial, cespitose
Stems erect, branched; nodes generally hairy
Leaves cauline; ligule membranous, minutely ciliate; blade flat or folded
Inflorescence panicle-like with 2 or more spike-like branches, solitary 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, ± translucent; florets 2, lower vestigial, obscure, upper fertile, lemma translucent, awned, palea << lemma or 0; stamens 1–3
Fruit oblong, brownish or purplish
Species in genus: ± 100 species: warm temp, tropical. Some species cultivated for forage, revegetation
Etymology: (Greek: man beard, from hairy staminate spikelets)
Reference: [Campbell 1983 J Arn Arbor 64:171–254]

Native

A. glomeratus (Walter) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb. var. scabriglumis C.S. Campb.

SOUTHWESTERN BUSHY BLUESTEM

Stem 0.8–1.5 m
Leaf: sheath scabrous; ligule 1–2.2 mm; lower blades 3–6 dm, 3.5–6 mm wide
Inflorescences many, compactly clustered, plume-like; branches generally 2–4
Spikelet 4–4.5 mm; lower glume keel generally scabrous at base; callus hairs 1–2 mm; awn 0.5–2 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=20,40
Ecology: Moist, open, disturbed areas, seeps
Elevation: < 600 m.
Bioregional distribution: Transverse Ranges, Mojave Desert, naturalized in North Coast, Outer North Coast Ranges, n Sierra Nevada Foothills, High Sierra Nevada, Sacramento Valley, South Coast
Distribution outside California: to New Mexico, Baja California
Flowering time: Sep–Mar
Horticultural information: IRR or WET, SUN: 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.