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GRASSES OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Heather Stewart, Richard Hebda Major Groups of Grasses Table of Contents Glossary Schizachyrium Bluestem Schizachyrium is a large genus well represented in the subtropical-tropical grasslands. Several members of this genus form an important component of the prairie grassland complex, in particular the tall-grass prairie. In British Columbia only Schizachyrium scoparium occurs.   Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash in Small Andropogon scoparius Michx. Little Bluestem Plant: Schizachyrium scoparium is a native species that grows to 80-100 cm tall. It is a clump-forming perennial with a short rhizome and an open, purplish, upright flowerhead. Leaves and Stem: The stem has grooves above the nodes. The smooth sheath is usually strongly keeled. The ligules are 1-1.5 mm long and have a finely hairy or finely jagged margin. Flat to folded leaf blades are 2-5 mm wide, and are smooth to sparsely hairy. Flowerhead and Flowers: The flowerhead is consists of several 3-5-cm-long loose spikes. Branches of the flowerhead each end in spikelets of two forms. The fertile spikelet has no stalk and a 10-13-mm-long twisted awn; the sterile spikelet is stalked with a 1-4-mm-long awn. There are two sterile spikelets. The central rachis of the spikelet is covered in fine, white hairs. The lemma is shorter than the longest glume. Habitat: Little Bluestem grows on dry sites in the lower montane zones. In British Columbia it occurs only at Fairmont Hotsprings, Kikomun Provincial Park and near the Bull River. It is Red Listed by the B.C. Conservation Data Centre. Similar Species: The branched purple flowerhead distinguishes Little Bluestem from other species.

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