Brief Summary
provided by EOL authors
Known as gulf bluestem or seacoast bluestem, Schizachyrium maritimum is a patchy and locally distributed coastal dune grass.It is native to the North American Gulf Coast and offshore islands from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle.A low, creeping grass, it grows in distinct clumps separated from each other by sand.Its characteristic blue-grey leaf blades can grow to about 1-3 feet (0.3-1 m) long.The stems grow along the sand rather than upward, then get held down as roots develop at each stem segment (or node).This makes gulf bluestem very effective in trapping and stabilizing sand, and an important native grass in the formation of sand dunes.
Gulf bluestem is a warm-season, perennial grass.It is a dominant species in stable, climax communities on back sand dunes (those furthest from the sea).Because it has some tolerance for salt spray, it also grows on intermediary dunes and the backside of primary dunes (those closest to the sea).Though it can survive burial by sand, gulf bluestem is not tolerant of flooding.This generally prevents it from thriving on the ocean size of primary dunes.
Gulf bluestem flowers between August and November.In late summer as the large seed heads mature, they become covered by thick white-grey hairs.This grass develops from seed, but also spreads by long underground runners called rhizomes.Its low, straggly growth contributes resources and habitat for many small mammals and birds.A notable example is the endangered beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus).This mouse depends on seed from gulf bluestem as an important component of its diet.
The states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama list gulf bluestem as “Imperiled” or "Critically Imperiled."Many factors, such as shoreline erosion, development, off-road vehicles, overgrazing and contaminants, threaten its small numbers.The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has developed a hardier gulf bluestem strain, called the Timbalier strain, which establishes itself well.This strain will be used in projects to restore and enhance delicate native coastal beach and dune habitats.It may also encourage the use of this grass in commercial and residential landscaping.
(Barkworth et al. 2007; Darovec et al. 1975; Rine 2007; Fontenot and Fine 2010; Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center, USDA NRCS 2007; Gornish and Miller 2013; Rare plants of Louisiana; Miller et al. 2010; Miller et al. 2014; Natureserve 2015; Thetford and Miller 2002, 2004; Williams 2007)
- Barkworth, M.E., L.K. Anderton, K.M. Capels, S. Long and M.B. Piep, 2007. Manual of Grasses for North America. Utah State University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0874216868
- Darovec Jr, J. E., Carlton, J. M., Pulver, T. R., Moffler, M.D., Smith, G.B., Whitfield Jr. W.K., Willis, C.A., Steidinger, K.A., and E.A. Joyce Jr., 1975. Techniques for coastal restoration and fishery enhancement in Florida. Florida Marine Research Publications, Number 15. Florida Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved August 28, 2015 from http://aquaticcommons.org/780/1/FMRP015.pdf
- Fine, G., 2007 Gulf Bluestem. Plant Fact Sheet. USDA NRCS Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center, Galliano, Louisiana. Retrieved August 27 2015 from http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_scma3.pdf
- Fontenot, Q. and G. Fine, 2010. Status of Plant Materials at the Nicholls State University Farm. Louisiana Native Plant Initiative Nicholls State University Farm Annual Report. Retrieved August 30 2015 from http://www.nicholls.edu/biol-jc/Nicholls_Farm_page/LNPI-Nicholls-Farm-201011.pdf.
- Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center, USDA NRCS, January 2007. Timbalier
- Gulf Bluestem (Schizachyrium maritimum), fact sheet. Retrieved August 30, 2015 from http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/lapmcrb7407.pdf
- Gornish, E. S. and Miller, T. E. 2013. Using long-term census data to inform restoration methods for coastal dune vegetation. Estuaries and coasts, 36(5), 1014-1023.
- Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries/Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program Factsheet. Rare plants of Louisiana. Retrieved August 27 2015 from http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/fact_sheet_plant/32116-Schizachyrium%20maritimum/schizachyrium_maritimum.pdf
- Miller, T. E., Gornish, E. S., and Buckley, H. L. 2010. Climate and coastal dune vegetation: disturbance, recovery, and succession. Plant ecology, 206(1), 97-104.
- Miller, D.E., M. Thetford, J. Dupree, and L. Atwood, 2014. Influence of Seasonal Changes and Shifting Substrate on Survival of Restoration Plantings of Schizachyrium maritimum (Gulf Bluestem) on Santa Rosa Island, Florida. Journal of Coastal Research: Volume 30, Issue 2: pp. 237 – 247.
- NatureServe. 2015. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?sourceTemplate=tabular_report.wmt&loadTemplate=species_RptComprehensive.wmt&selectedReport=RptComprehensive.wmt&summaryView=tabular_report.wmt&elKey=136557&paging=home&save=true&startIndex=1&nextStartIndex=1&reset=false&offPageSelectedElKey=136557&offPageSelectedElType=species&offPageYesNo=true&post_processes=&radiobutton=radiobutton&selectedIndexes=136557. (Accessed: August 31, 2015 ).
- Thetford, M. and Miller, D., 2002. Propagation of 4 Florida coastal dune species. Native Plants Journal, 3(2), 112-120.
- Thetford, M., & Miller, D. 2004. Propagation and Production of Gulf Bluestem1. EDIS document ENH974, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Retrieved August 28, 2015 from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/EP/EP23100.pdf
- Williams, M.J., 2007. Native Plants for Coastal Restoration: What, When, and How for Florida. USDA, NRCS, Brooksville Plant Materials Center, Brooksville, FL. Page 16. (http://www.fl.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/pmc/flplantmaterials.html)
Comprehensive Description
provided by North American Flora
Schizachyrium maritimum (Chapm.) Nash, in Small, FL SE
U. S. 59. 1903.
Andropogon mariiimus Chapm. Fl. S. U. S. ed. 2. 668. 1883.
A glaucous perennial, with long creeping rootstocks, and smooth and glabrous leaves with spreading blades. Stems 4-6 dm. tall; leaf-sheaths compressed, keeled, the lower ones crowded and overlapping; blades 1 dm. long or less, 2-4 mm. broad, widely spreading; spike-like racemes usually partly included at the base, 3-4 cm. long, rather stout, the rachis commonly stout, the internodes about one half as long as the sessile spikelets, longciliate on the margins, the terminal hairs 5-7 mm. long, the pedicels as long as or longer than 1
1 the intemodes, ciliate on the margins with long hairs; sessile spikelet 8-9 mm. long, about twice as long as the internodes, the first scale glabrous, the fourth scale deeply 2-cleft at the apex for less than one half its length, the awn 1-1.5 cm. long, the brown column tightly spiral, a little shorter than the subula; pedicellate spikelet 5-7 mm. long, awnless, consisting of 4 scales, the outer 2 acuminate and usually awn-pointed, the fourth scale enclosing a staminate flower.
Type locality :'Sandy coast, western Florida.
Distribution : Along the seacoast, western Florida to Mississippi.
- bibliographic citation
- George Valentine Nash. 1912. (POALES); POACEAE (pars). North American flora. vol 17(2). New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY
Physical Description
provided by USDA PLANTS text
Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Rhizome elongate, creeping, stems distant, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems geniculate, decumbent, or lax, sometimes rooting at nodes, Stems solitary, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes solid or spongy, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath or blade keeled, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule pr esent, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence lateral or axillary, Inflorescence with 2 or more spikes, fascicles, glomerules, heads, or clusters per culm, Inflorescence single raceme, fascicle or spike, Peduncle or rachis scabrous or pubescent, often with long hairs, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, Spikelets laterally compressed, Inflorescence or spikelets partially hidden in leaf sheaths, subtended by spatheole, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelets paired at rachis nodes, Spikelets in paired units, 1 sessile, 1 pedicellate, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Spikelets falling with parts of disarticulating rachis or pedicel, Spikelets conspicuously hairy , Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glumes keeled or winged, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma 1 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex dentate, 2-fid, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn 1-2 cm long, Lemma awn from sinus of bifid apex, Lemma awn twisted, spirally coiled at base, like a corkscrew, Lemma awn once geniculate, bent once, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Callus or base of lemma evidently hairy, Callus hairs longer than lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis.
Schizachyrium maritimum: Brief Summary
provided by wikipedia EN
Schizachyrium maritimum is a species of grass known by the common name Gulf bluestem. It is native to the Gulf Coast of the United States, where its distribution extends from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
This species produces single stems that lie decumbent, often rooting at nodes that come in contact with the sandy substrate, making them look like rhizomes. The stems are waxy and reddish in color. The leaf blades are 11 centimeters to well over one meter long.
This plant grows at the coastal waterline. It is sometimes submerged in water. It binds the soil. It is considered "the most important species of bluestem grass on the Gulf of Mexico." It is commonly used in coastal revegetation projects on the Gulf. It provides habitat for several types of animals.
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