Minnesota Seasons - big bluestem

Conservation • Wetland • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Use • Distribution • Taxonomy


Conservation Status
IUCN Red List	not listed
NatureServe	N5? - Secure SNR - Unranked
Minnesota	not listed


Wetland Indicator Status
Great Plains	FACU - Facultative upland
Midwest	FAC - Facultative
Northcentral & Northeast	FACU - Facultative upland

Description

Height

5′ to 8′

Flower Color

Similar Species

Habitat

Dry to moderate moisture. Prairies. Full sun.

Ecology

Flowering

August to October

Pests and Diseases

Use


Distribution
		Sources 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.
8/9/2024

Nativity
Native

Occurrence
Common


Taxonomy
Kingdom	Plantae (green algae and land plants)
Subkingdom	Viridiplantae (green plants)
Infrakingdom	Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)
Superdivision	Embryophyta (land plants)
Division	Tracheophyta (vascular plants)
Subdivision	Spermatophytina (seed plants)
Class	Liliopsida (monocots)
Order	Poales (grasses, sedges, cattails, and allies)
Family	Poaceae (grasses)
no rank	PACMAD clade
Subfamily	Panicoideae (bristlegrasses, bluestems, paspalums, and allies)
Tribe	Andropogoneae (bluestems, lemon grasses, silvergrasses, and allies)
Subtribe	Andropogoninae (bluestems, thatching grasses, and allies)
Genus	Andropogon (bluestems)

Some sources, including ITIS, USDA PLANTS, and Flora of North America, use the species epithet gerardii. This is the corrected Latinized spelling of the given name Gerard or Gérard. However, gerardi is a well-established form of that name, and spelling corrections are not allowed under rules of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.

Subordinate Taxa
Two varieties are recognized: Andropogon gerardi var. gerardi, the nominate variety, and Andropogon gerardi var. hondurensis. The latter variety occurs only in Central America. Most North American sources list no varieties of a species when the nominate variety is the only one occurring in North America.
big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi var. gerardi) big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi var. hondurensis)

Synonyms
Andropogon chrysocomus Andropogon furcatus Andropogon furcatus var. villosa Andropogon gerardi var. chrysocomus Andropogon gerardii Andropogon hallii var. grandiflorus Andropogon provincialis Andropogon provincialis subvar. furcatus Andropogon provincialis subvar. lindheimeri Andropogon provincialis subvar. pycnanthus Andropogon provincialis var. tennesseensis Andropogon tennesseensis Leptopogon furcatus

Common Names
big bluestem bluejoint bluejoint beardgrass turkeyfoot


Visitor Photos

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Kirk Nelson

The big bluestem grass is at least 6 feet tall.


Robert Briggs

Big Bluestem seed head, Whitetail Woods park.


MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos



Habitat		Inflorescence


Infructescence

Camera

Slideshows

Andropogon gerardi
Zi W

slideshow


Visitor Videos

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Other Videos

Big Bluestem mp4
Karl Foord

About

Published on Oct 12, 2013

No description available.

Minnesota Native Plant - Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi)
MNNativePlants

About

Published on Sep 5, 2013

This video shows one of the taller Minnesota native grasses, the Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi).

Identifying Big Bluestem
Karl Foord

About

Published on Oct 12, 2013

No description available.

Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi)
PrairieMoonNursery

About

Uploaded on Aug 24, 2011

http://www.prairiemoon.com Big Bluestem is sometimes called Turkey's foot. It is a staple of the Tallgrass Prairie.

Camcorder


Visitor Sightings

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