Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Andropogon gerardi
FAMILY
Poaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Andropogon from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Andropogon gerardii
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Illustrated Flora of East Texas (Diggs et al., 2006)
Andropogon gerardii ssp. gerardii
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 25 (2003)
Andropogon gerardii
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 029-87-002:
Andropogon gerardii FAMILY Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
Andropogon gerardi
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Andropogon provincialis
COMMON NAME:
Big Bluestem, Turkeyfoot
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950 pnd_ange_006_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950 pnd_ange_009_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0506h_28
June Oconee County SC
Plant bluish-green, tufted, erect, often glaucous. Lf blades ~ 0.2-0.4" wide, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm160717_348
July Greenville County SC
Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve
Grass flowers usually w 2 lodicules, 3 stamens, ovary w 2 feathery stigmas, per How to Know the Grasses: Pictured Key Nature Series (Pohl, 1954).
)
JK Marlow jkm160717_350
July Greenville County SC
Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve
The once-endless tallgrass prairie with majestic big bluestem is past, per Book of Field and Roadside (Eastman, 2003).
)
JK Marlow jkm0408k_26b
August Oconee County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm0408k_36
August Oconee County SC
Isolated stands exist today mainly along railroads, fencerows and roadsides, per Book of Field and Roadside (Eastman, 2003).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_andropogon_gerardii_3
August
Racemes on long-exserted terminal peduncle mostly 3-6, fewer on branches, per Manual of the Grasses of the United States (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950).
)
JK Marlow jkm230905_5273
September Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow s050917_c
September Cabarrus County NC
Suther Prairie
Flowering raceme has 3 branches arising from a common point (the Turkeyfoot), per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow s050917_d
September Cabarrus County NC
Suther Prairie
Bristles (awns) that project from the flowers are sharply bent, per Book of Field and Roadside (Eastman, 2003).
)
JK Marlow jkm111029_122
October Pickens County SC
When the plant is in flower, the bright yellow anthers are prominent, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
)
JK Marlow jkm0311a_23
November Pickens County SC
Roadside
Purplish seedhead a narrow cluster of linear raceme resembling a turkeyfoot, per Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Andropogon gerardi
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Andropogon gerardii
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Illustrated Flora of East Texas (Diggs et al., 2006)
Andropogon gerardii ssp. gerardii
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 25
Andropogon gerardii
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 029-87-002:
Andropogon gerardii
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
Andropogon gerardi
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Andropogon provincialis
84
Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Perennial
Habitat: In a wide variety of habitats, usually rather dry, such as longleaf pine sandhills, glades, cliffs, and rock outcrops, in the Piedmont in woodlands, former prairie-like sites, woodlands, open forests, and river-scour grasslands, in the Mountains in glades, riverside scour areas, and rarely in grassy balds, ascending to at least 1600 m over mafic rocks (on Old Field Bald, Watauga and Ashe counties, NC), per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal & alternate, 2-ranked
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Raceme (2-5 per peduncle)
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Grain purplish/Yellowish
Grain
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p206
- Manual of the Grasses of the United States (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950) p757
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p409
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p347
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p399
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p094
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".