Little Bluestem
Latin Name- Schizachyrium Scoparium
Plant family- Poaceae or grass family
Habitat- Widely distributed is a native grass in North America. It will grow on a varieties of soils but is well adapted to medium to dry soils. It has excellent drought and fair shade tolerance but poor flood tolerance.
Warm season Little Bluestem will grow to about two to four feet tall with coarse stems and basil leaves, the leaves are smooth but covered with hair at the base.
Bloom Period- Aug.to Feb.
Characteristics- usually grows 2-3 feet (0.61-1.2 meters) roots grow to about 5 feet (2.7meters). Flowers are a purplish bronze color in August to February
Threats- Domestic and wild animals prefer to eat little bluestem when the plant is young and green
Interesting Facts- The scientific name "scoparius" comes from a greek word meaning broom-like, referring to the stiffly bunched stems. Since Little Bluestem is moderately aggressive, it should be included in all prairie plantings. Their's other plants like it as Big Bluestem, Sideoats Grama, Prairie Dropseed, Blue Grama. The Little Bluestem is in every county in Kansas. Small birds like to feed off the white fuzzy seeds.
Habitat-Little bluestem is located in places like woodlands, Hillsides, Slopes, Meadows ,and pastures.
http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=28095
http://grownative.org/native-plant-info/seedling-identification/little-bluestem/
http://www.jeinc.com/little-bluestem
Flowering Plant- in warm season it will grow two to four feet tall
http://www.jeinc.com/little-bluestem
Bibliography- Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie page 251
jenic.com
prairiemoon.com
plants.usda.gov
illinoiswildflowers.info
grownative.org
planoprairiegarden.com
Iowa's Living Roadway page 53 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFUkNHueCiY
Disclaimer-The infomation in the Prairie Plant Guide was collected and compossed by the 5th graders,we apologize for any inaccuracise.
Bibliography-Info comes from these sits Seedling evaluation guide.org, Wildflower.org