Andropogon ternarius

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Genus Andropogon

Annual or perennial . Leaf blades linear , not aromatic ; ligule scarious or reduced to a line of hairs . Inflorescence simple or compound ; racemes fragile, usually paired , occasionally digitate or single, terminal on the culm or axillary and gathered into a spathate compound panicle; spikelets of a pair dissimilar; raceme bases not deflexed , without homogamous spikelets (present in A. munroi) ; rachis internodes filiform to linear or clavate , sometimes inflated , ciliate on margins . Sessile spikelet usually dorsally compressed ; callus short, obtuse , shortly bearded , inserted into internode apex; lower glume membranous to leathery, 2-keeled, lanceolate, flat to concave with lateral keels , these sometimes narrowly winged , with or without intercarinal veins, or linear with dorsal keels and a deep veinless median groove ; upper glume awned or awnless; lower floret reduced to a hyaline lemma; upper lemma hyaline, 2-lobed, awned from sinus ; awn geniculate , column glabrous or puberulous . Stamens 1-3. Pedicelled spikelet variable, large to much reduced, male or barren. x = 10.

About 100 species: tropical and warm-temperate regions of both hemispheres, especially Africa and America; two species in China.[1]

Physical Description

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 5,059 meters (0 to 16,598 feet).[2]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 24-36" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

Members of the genus Andropogon

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 42 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

A. arctatus (Pinewoods Bluestem) · A. bicornis (Barbas De Indio) · A. bicornis var. paranensis (West Indian Foxtail Grass) · A. binatus (Sabaigrass) · A. brachystachyus (Short-Spike Bluestem) · A. capillipes (Chalky Bluestem) · A. chevalieri (Beardgrass) · A. filipendulus (Hyparrhenia) · A. floridanus (Florida Bluestem) · A. gayanus (Bluestem) · A. gerardi (Big Bluestem) · A. gerardii (Big Bluestem) · A. gerardii var. gerardii (Big Bluestem) · A. gerardii 'Pawnee' (Big Bluestem) · A. glaucopsis (Chalky Bluestem) · A. glomeratus (Broomsedge) · A. glomeratus var. glomeratus (Bushy Bluestem) · A. glomeratus var. hirsutior (Bushy Bluestem) · A. glomeratus var. pumilus (Bushy Bluestem) · A. glomeratus var. scabriglumis (Bushy Bluestem) · A. gracilis (Silky Bluestem) · A. gyrans (Beardgrass) · A. gyrans var. gyrans (Elliott's Bluestem) · A. gyrans var. stenophyllus (Elliotts Bluestem) · A. hallii (Sand Bluestem) · A. leucostachys (Matojillo Bluestem) · A. leucostachyus (Matojillo Bluestem) · A. longiberbis (Hairy Bluestem) · A. mohrii (Mohr Bluestem) · A. propinquus (Sorghum) · A. sorghum (Sorghum) · A. sorghum halepensis (Aleppo Milletgrass) · A. ternarius (Silver Bluestem) · A. ternarius var. cabanisii (Splitbeard Bluestem) · A. ternarius var. ternarius (Splitbeard Bluestem) · A. tracyi (Tracy's Bluestem) · A. virginicus (Broom Sedge) · A. virginicus var. decipiens (Broomsedge) · A. virginicus var. glaucus 'Silver Beauty' (Blue Stem Grass) · A. virginicus var. scabriglumus (Broomsedge Bluestem) · A. virginicus var. virginicus (Broomsedge Bluestem) · A. vulgaris (Broomcorn)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A survey of natural areas in Brunswick County, North Carolina: for The North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, Coastal Natural Area Inventory Project / Raleigh: North Carolina Coastal Energy Impact Program, Office of Coastal Management, North Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources and Community Development, [1982?] url .
• An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British possessions: from Newfoundland to the parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia and from the Atlantic Ocean westward to the 102nd meridian / by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Hon. Addison Brown. New York: Scribner, 1913. url p. 116, p. 117.
• Bartonia;proceedings of the Philadelphia botanical club. .. 29 - 41 1957 - 19 Philadelphia, Philadelphia Botanical Club, Academy of Natural Sciences. url p. 16, p. 33, p. 51.
• Britton, N. L. (ed.). North American flora. [New York]New York Botanical Garden. url p. 1032, p. 119, p. 120, p. 283, p. 745.
• Circular / United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Agrostology. Washington, D.C.: The Division, 1895-1901. url p. 10.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 46 2003 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 19, p. 22, p. 23, p. 30, p. 46, p. 56, p. 598, p. 60, p. 72.
• Erigenia: journal of the Illinois Native Plant Society. Carbondale, Ill.: The Society, 1982- url p. 10.
• Flora of Delaware and the Eastern Shore: an annotated list of the ferns and flowering plants of the peninsula of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. [Wilmington]: Society of Natural History of Delaware, 1946. url p. 46.
• Manual of the grasses of the United States / by A.S. Hitchcock. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1935. url p. 735, p. 736, p. 789, p. 790, p. 794.
• Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. 1965 Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1946-1996. url p. 49.
• Natural area inventory of Pender County, North Carolina / Raleigh: North Carolina Coastal Energy Impact Program, Office of Coastal Management, North Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources and Community Development, [1982?] url p. 21.
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 186, p. 273, p. 330, p. 51.
• Plants of Mississippi: a list of flowering plants and ferns / by E.N. Lowe. [Jackson, Miss.]: Mississippi State Geological Survey, 1921. url .
• Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science. [Weatherford, etc.]Oklahoma Academy of Science. url p. 85.
• Some grasses of the Northeast: a key to their identification by vegetative characters. Newark, Delaware: University of Delaware, Agricultural Experiment Station, 1962. url p. 44, p. 50.
• The study of plant communities: an introduction to plant ecology. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman, 1948. url p. 293.
• Types of American grasses: a study of the American species of grasses described by Linnæus, Gronovius, Sloane, Swartz, and Michaux. Washington, Govt. print. off., 1908. url p. 151, p. 157.

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed November 21, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 9 providers.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 25, 2008)

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 21, 2007:

• Comisión nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad, Herbario del Instituto de Ecología, A.C., México
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database
• University of Alabama Biodiversity and Systematics, Herbarium
• Utah State University, USU-UTC Specimen Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2660766
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-40455
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13753909
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:388643-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 3343
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 40455
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PMPOA0C0G0
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: ANTEG ANTE
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 21237

Footnotes

1. Shou-liang Chen & Sylvia M. Phillips "Andropogon". in Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 572, 621, 623, 624, 627. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Mean = 169.450 meters (555.938 feet), Standard Deviation = 371.240 based on 697 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.