Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, but apparently not in Oregon, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
Habitat: Sagebrush desert.
Flowers: July-September
Origin: Native
Growth Duration: Perennial
Conservation Status: Threatened in Washington (WANHP)
Pollination: Wind
Tufted perennial, but also with rhizomes, the culms 8-10 dm. tall, solid, grooved above the nodes.
Sheaths open, usually glabrous, strongly keeled; ligules 1-1.5 mm. long, puberulent; blades flat or folded, 2-5 mm. broad, mostly glabrous.
Inflorescence a branched panicle, each branch ending in a single, arching raceme 3-5 cm. long; spikelets in pairs, one sessile and one pedicellate, the pedicellate spikelet 4-5 mm. long, sterile, with an awn 1-4 mm. long; sessile spikelet 2-flowered, 7-9 mm. long, with an awn 10-13 mm. long, the upper flower perfect, the lower an empty lemma; palea much reduced, lacerate.
Publication: Fl. S.E. U.S. [Small]. 59. 1903.
Andropogon scoparius J. Presl, misapplied
- var. scoparium – broom beardgras, broom bluestem, little bluestem Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, but apparently not in Oregon, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Schizachyrium scoparium in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database
WA Flora Checklist: Schizachyrium scoparium checklist entry
OregonFlora: Schizachyrium scoparium information
E-Flora BC: Schizachyrium scoparium atlas page
CalPhotos: Schizachyrium scoparium photos
