Description ³

At 2-4ft high, little bluestem lives up to its name as one of the shorter North American prairie grasses (roughly half the height of big bluestem and indiangrass). Like other native prairie grasses, this is a clump-forming “bunchgrass” that looks quite different from the non-native “turf grasses” we use in our lawns. Little bluestem can be easily identified during fall and winter by its wispy feather-like seeds dispersed vertically along a rising stalk. As the name implies, it’s vegetation has a blue-green hue that turns a deep purple-red color during fall and retains much of its beautiful color throughout the winter.

Ecology ³

This is a perennial plant, meaning that, while the above ground vegetation dies back annually, each plant regrows in the spring from a long-lived root system. Little bluestem is a specialized plant adapted for extremely dry soils making it great at stabilizing soils in particularly difficult areas. It is often the dominant plant in sandy or gravelly habitats where few other plants can survive. Here, it’s dense clumps of dead above ground vegetation provide cover for wildlife through the winter when little other cover exists.

On Campus ³

This was one of the dominant grasses in the “oak openings” habitats that were once common in parts of western New York. Given the sandy soil and abundance of black oaks on campus, it is likely that portions of Fisher’s campus were open, sandy grasslands dominated by this species prior to 1700. Grazing by sheep and cattle from the mid-1700’s through the early 1900’s would have reduced the prevalence of this and other native prairie species. In the 1980’s, a DEC survey noted the presence of this and other prairie species in patches of habitat around what used to be a golf course south of Murphy Hall. This habitat has since been lost and now, only one patch of four plants remain at the edge of campus between Murphy Hall and the interstate on-ramp.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Andrew Hoffman, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Andrew Hoffman
2. (c) Andrew Hoffman, all rights reserved, uploaded by Andrew Hoffman
3. (c) Andrew Hoffman, all rights reserved

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Calflora
• CalPhotos
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• Go Botany
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Jepson eFlora
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

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