Plant:Big Bluestem
| Name: Turkey Foot grass: Andropogon gerardii | Description:Season and Stature: native warm season perenial tall grass. It begins growth in late April and flowers in summer, attaining heights up to 8 feet or sometimes more including flower stalks. FLOWERS: spikelets are borne in pairs, one sessile, one pedicelled. The inflorescence is 3-branched, each of which is a raceme. Because of this, it has been called "turkey foot" bluestem. LEAVES: The lower leaf sheath of young growth has long hairs.The young shoots are somewhat flattened and the young culms are oval in cross-section. HABITAT: Big Bluestem is a lowland dominant. It grows in moist soil sometimes on the lower slopes and sparingly on uplands. RANGE: This species caused the eastern, humid prairies to be called "bluestem prairie" or "tall grass prairie". It is a major dominant in the True Prairie. It is found in Mixed Prairie in ravines and valley bottoms. It is also found southward into the Texas Prairies. (Prairie Plants of Illinois- J. Voigt & R. Mohlenbrock) | Discussion:This was a chief component of the prairie and was used for grazing or as a hay meadow. It decreases under heavy grazing. Prairies heavily grazed usually degenerate to lower condition beacause of competitive benefit to less palatable species.(Prairie Plants of Illinois- J. Voigt & R. Mohlenbrock) |
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