Little Bluestem Scientific Name: Schizachyrium scoparium Native to Alabama: Yes
	Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Sally and Andy Wasowski Click on image to enlarge it

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Basic Plant Information
	I am a vascular plant with no woody stems and narrow blade-like sheathed leaves, so I am a grass.  I do not keep leaves year-round, so I am deciduous. I die back in winter but regrow in spring for many seasons, so I am perennial. I can grow 2 - 4 feet high and 1.5 - 2 feet wide.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Sally and Andy Wasowski      Click on image to enlarge it

 





















 

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Ecological Benefits
This plant provides food for:
Butterflies	Caterpillars	Other Birds
	Dusted Skipper, Crossline Skipper, Cobweb Skipper

 
 

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Maintenance Notes
Dormant in winter, but leaves remain copper colored with fuzzy seed-heads throughout the winter. Cut plant to the ground in late winter or early spring to promote new growth. When watering, hold hose to base of plant for a count of 5 seconds.  Water should reach all roots. Avoid sprinkling water on the leaves. Requires dry soil at all times.
Dry soil: water once per week.

 
 

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Habitat Requirements
This plant prefers:
Full Sun (6+ hours of sun per day)		Dry Soil	Well-drained, Sandy, Loamy, Clay, or Limestone soil

 
 

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Leaf, Flower & Seed Identification
LEAF DESCRIPTION				Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Carolyn Fannon Click on image to enlarge it
Leaf Characteristics Chart (PDF)
Shape: Linear	Margin: Entire/Smooth	Arrangement: Alternate	Form: Simple
Description:
Leaves are green-gray with a bluish tint; thin, slender, and flat about 0.25 inches wide; sheath is glabrous and keeled; bronze-copper colored in the fall and remain this color throughout the winter

     

FLOWER DESCRIPTION							Minnesota Wildflowers - Katy Chayka Click on image to enlarge it
Flower Shapes Chart (JPG)
Color: Purple/Lavender			Shape: Spike-like cluster			Bloom Months: July - Oct
Description:
Purplish flowers are produced in pairs of spikelets arranged in an inflorescence; appear as a spike-like cluster located at the top of each branch; each cluster is 1-3 inches long

SEED DESCRIPTION			flickr - Tony Ernst Click on image to enlarge it
Type: Fruit - Caryopsis (dry, one-seeded fruit; seed coat fused to fruit wall)	Description: Seed heads are fluffy/ fuzzy and silver-white	Months in Seed: Fall - Winter
Plant spreads by:
Seeds In the fall, the spikelet of flowers spreads out along with the hairs on the inflorescence, giving the seed head a silvery white, fuzzy appearance that is attractive to wildlife.  The seed itself is a brownish purple spindle shaped seed that tapers to a point.

 

 

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Plant Life Cycle

Plant Life Cycle: All plants start life as a seed. The seed turns into a sprout when it grows roots. The sprout becomes a seedling as grows a stem and leaves above the ground. After the seedling becomes an adult plant it will grow flowers. After the flowers finish blooming, each flower turns into a seed. When the seeds fall down to the ground, the plant life cycle starts again. Each seed can become a plant if it has the food, water and space that it needs to grow.

General Plant Life Cycle - Dreamstime Click on image to enlarge it

 

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

 

Quick Fact Sheet (Condensed Species Info)

Plant ID Sign: Ready as-is PDF

Plant ID Sign: Editable Word Doc

QR Code (Links to this Webpage)

  

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INFORMATION SOURCES FOR THIS PLANT


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Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's Plant Database		USDA Plants Database
North Carolina Entension Gardener Plant Toolbox		Missouri Botanical Garden
Alabama Plant Atlas		Alabama Butterfly Atlas
Minnesota Wildflowers

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