Big bluestem is being rediscovered as commercial hay and a forage plant. Its leaves are very nutritious for cattle, and cows and bison love it. Prairie chickens and some songbirds consume the seeds. This species provides both food and cover for numerous livestock and wildlife species. Upland game birds and songbirds eat the seeds.
Big bluestem is a perennial bunchgrass growing 3 to 10 feet tall. Its green flowers are small and inconspicuous and arranged along finger-like spikes. They are wind-pollinated.
Big bluestem occurs in arid landscapes or on dry slopes. It prefers the deep, fertile, dry soils of prairies, plains, and open woods, but also grows on shallow, gravelly ridges during wet periods.
Big bluestem is a USA-NPN calibration plant species. Calibration species have broad distributions and are ecologically or economically important. The NPN integrates observations on calibration species to get "the big picture" of plant responses to climate across the nation.
If drought seems to be the cause of leaf withering for a plant, please make a comment to that effect.
Do you see...?
Initial growth New growth of the plant is visible, either as new green shoots sprouting from nodes on existing stems, or new green shoots breaking through the soil surface. For each shoot, growth is considered "initial" until the first leaf has unfolded. More...
Leaves One or more live unfolded leaves are visible on the plant. A leaf is considered "unfolded" when it unrolls slightly from around the stem and begins to fall away at an angle. Do not include dried or dead leaves. More...
Flower heads One or more fresh flower heads (inflorescences) are visible on the plant. Flower heads, which include many small flowers arranged on spikelets, emerge from inside the stem and gradually grow taller. Do not include heads whose flowers have already opened and have all wilted or dried.
How many fresh flower heads are present?
Less than 3
3 to 10
More than 10
Open flowers One or more open fresh flowers are visible on the plant. A flower is considered "open" when reproductive parts (male anthers or female stigmata) can be seen protruding from the spikelet. Do not include flowers with wilted or dried reproductive parts that remain on the plant.
How many fresh flowers are open?
Pollen release One or more flowers on the plant release pollen when gently shaken or blown.
How many flowers release pollen?
Fruits One or more fresh fruits are visible on the plant. For Andropogon gerardii, the fruit is a grain and changes texture from soft or watery to hard, eventually dropping from the plant.
How many fresh fruits are present?
Ripe fruits One or more ripe fruits are visible on the plant. For Andropogon gerardii, a fruit is considered ripe when it is hard when squeezed and difficult to divide with a fingernail. A fruit may also be considered ripe if it drops from the plant when touched.
How many fruits are ripe?
Recent fruit drop One or more fresh mature fruits or seeds have dropped or been removed from the plant since your last visit. Do not include obviously immature fruits that have dropped before ripening, such as in a heavy rain or wind.
How many mature fruits have dropped?
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