Kingdom Plantae Family Poaceae Scientific name Sorghastrum nutans | Order Poales Genus Sorghastrum Rank Species | |
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Similar Andropogon gerardi, Schizachyrium scoparium, Sorghastrum, Old switch panic grass, Andropogon | ||
Indiangrass sorghastrum nutans
Sorghastrum nutans, commonly known as either Indiangrass or yellow Indiangrass, is a North American prairie grass found in the central and eastern United States and Canada, especially in the Great Plains and tallgrass prairies.
Contents
- Indiangrass sorghastrum nutans
- Sorghastrum nutans indian grass hygroscopic awn time lapse
- Description
- Ecology
- Culture
- References
Sorghastrum nutans indian grass hygroscopic awn time lapse
Description
Indiangrass is a warm-season perennial bunchgrass. 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.
It blooms from late summer to early fall in Illinois, 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.
The branches of pollinated flower clusters bend outwards. At maturity, the seeds fall to the ground. They weigh at about 175,000 seeds to the pound.
Ecology
Sorghastrum nutans is prominent in the tallgrass prairie ecosystem and the northern, central, and Flint Hills tall grassland ecoregions, along with big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). It is also common in areas of longleaf pine.
It is adapted in the United States from the southern border to Canada and from the eastern seaboard to Montana, Wyoming and Utah.
It regrows with renewed vitality after fires, so controlled burns are used, replacing extirpated large herbivores (i.e. bison), for habitat renewal.
Culture
Indiangrass is the official state grass of both Oklahoma and South Carolina.
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service lists the following uses for Indiangrass:
