Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash, Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Andropogon scoparius Michx.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: little bluestem, prairie beardgrass

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Habit: Perennial; caespitose. Rhizomes absent, or short. Culms 50-150 cm long. Lateral branches ample. Leaf-sheaths keeled; glabrous on surface to hirsute. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 1-3 mm long. Leaf-blades 15-30 cm long; 3-6 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface glabrous to hirsute. Leaf-blade apex acute. Synflorescence compound; linear. Inflorescence composed of racemes; terminal and axillary; subtended by a spatheole; exserted. Spatheole linear; 4-6 cm long; herbaceous. Racemes 1; single; sinuous; 3-6 cm long. Rhachis fragile at the nodes; semiterete; ciliate on margins, or villous on margins. Rhachis internodes clavate. Rhachis internode tip cupuliform; with scarious rim. Spikelets ascending, or spreading; in pairs. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1 in the cluster. Companion sterile spikelets pedicelled; 1 in the cluster. Pedicels filiform; curved; ciliate, or villous. Sterile spikelets: Companion sterile spikelets represented by single glumes, or well-developed; comprising 2 subequal glumes without lemmas, or containing empty lemmas, or male; lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 1.5-7 mm long; shorter than fertile; deciduous with the fertile. Companion sterile spikelet glumes chartaceous; muticous, or awned; one glume awned; with 1.5-3 mm long awn. Companion sterile spikelet lemmas 2; enclosed by glumes. Fertile spikelets: Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 6-8 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures. Spikelet callus pilose; base obtuse; inserted. Glumes dissimilar; exceeding apex of florets; firmer than fertile lemma. Lower glume lanceolate; 1 times length of spikelet; coriaceous; 2-keeled; keeled all along; keeled laterally; keeled obtusely. Lower glume intercarinal veins distinct; 3 in number. Lower glume surface flat, or concave. Upper glume lanceolate; membranous; 1-keeled. Florets: Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret oblong; hyaline; 2 -veined. Fertile lemma oblong; hyaline; without keel; 1 -veined. Lemma apex lobed; 2 -fid; with lanceolate lobes; incised 0.5 of lemma length; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn from a sinus; geniculate; 8-15 mm long overall; with twisted column. Column of lemma awn glabrous. Palea absent or minute"  (GrassBase).

"May be distinguished from S. condensatum by the following characters: culms densely tufted, 50-150 cm tall, erect, often glaucous, branching distally, sheaths and blades glabrous or blades long pilose towards base, blades 9-20 x 3-4 mm; inflorescence with racemes 3-6 cm long, mostly curved, the peduncles filiform, mostly included in the sheaths, often spreading, the rachis slender, flexuose, pilose; sessile spikelets 6-8 mm long, scabrous, the awn 8-15 mm long, twisted, minutely scabrid; pedicellate spikelet reduced, short-awned, spreading, the pedicel pilose"  (Lorence & Flynn, 1995).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Canada, United States and northern Mexico (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (pp. 47-48) "Pasture land and secondary forest". Voucher cited: T. Flynn & L. Hume 3220 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced cultivated	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (p. 35) Voucher cited: Hosaka 2459 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (p. 35) Vouchers cited: Hosaka 2620 (BISH), Nagata & Takeuchi 3743 (BISH), Nagata & Takeuchi 3750 (BISH)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Canada Province of British Columbia	Canada (British Columbia)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Information from the Fire Effects Information System

Additional online information about Schizachyrium scoparium is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Schizachyrium scoparium as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Schizachyrium scoparium may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Clayton, W.D./Harman, K.T./Williamson, H. 2011. World Grass Species: Descriptions, Identification, and Information Retrieval [GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora]. The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. 1998. Notes on the grasses of Hawai‘i: new records, corrections, and name changes. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1997. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 55:17-38.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

Snow, Neil/Lau, Alex. 2010. Notes on grasses (Poaceae) in Hawai‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2008. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 107:46-60.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.