yellow bluestem
(Bothriochloa ischaemum)
Overview
- Appearance
- Bothriochloa ischaemum is a perennial grass that can grow from 3 to 5 ft. (1-1.5 m) tall.
- Foliage
- Leaves are basal, glaucous, flat, and 1 to 10 in. (2.5-25 cm) long with scattered hairs. Stems are slender, solid, and green turning yellow when mature with brown to purple nodes.
- Flowers
- The inflorescence of B. ischaemum is a terminal, subdigitate panicle that is purplish in color and has 2 to 10 racemes that are 1-3.5 in. (2.5-9 cm) long. Spikelets are in pairs with one sessile and perfect and the other pedicellate and sterile. The perfect flower is 0.12-0.18 in. (3-4.6 mm) long and ovate. The blooming period occurs in mid summer.
- Fruit
- Seeds are brown in color. The seeding period occurs from summer through fall. This plant reproduces from seed.
- Ecological Threat
- B. ischaemum grows in dry stony places, fields, roadsides, waste ground, and pastures. It is native to Asia and Europe.
Selected Images
Maps
EDDMapS Distribution - This map is incomplete and is based only on current site and county level reports made by experts, herbaria, and literature. For more information, visit www.eddmaps.org
State List - This map identifies those states that list this species on their invasive species list or law. For more information, visit Invasive.org
Invasive Listing Sources
Taxonomic Rank
| Kingdom: Plantae |
| Phylum: Magnoliophyta |
| Class: Liliopsida |
| Subclass: Commelinidae |
| Order: Cyperales |
| Family: Poaceae |
| Genus: Bothriochloa |
| Subject: Bothriochloa ischaemum (L.) Keng |
Synonyms and Other Names
Related Scientific Names:
Andropogon ischaemum L. (Synonym)
Bothriochloa ischaemum var. songarica (Rupr. ex Fisch. & C.A. Mey.) Celarier & Harlan (Synonym)