Little Bluestem

Description

Schizachyrium scoparium, commonly called little bluestem, is a native perennial warm season grass.  It was once one of the dominant grasses of the vast tallgrass prairie region. The foliage turns shades of bronze-orange in the fall. We offer the following varieties/cultivars: Aldous, Ozark, and Missouri native.

Little bluestem is probably the most abundant and generally distributed range plant in the Ozarks. A warm-season midgrass, it is moderately palatable and eaten by all kinds of livestock, especially in the early stages of growth. It begins growth in April and provides forage of adequate nutritive value for most kinds of livestock until mid-July when it begins to produce seed stalks. After maturity, it is not as readily eaten by livestock but makes fair fall and winter grazing for cattle and horses when supplemented with protein and minerals. This grass can produce up to 2 tons of cured forage per acre.

Dense stands provide winter cover especially valuable for prairie chickens, and quail often use them for escape cover. Skippers and grasshoppers relish the foliage of Little Bluestem. Seeds serve as a minor food source for quail, deer, and prairie chickens. Turkeys also occasionally eat the young leaves.

Little bluestem is becoming more popular for home landscaping because it is a colorful and low maintenance addition. New growth can be bluish, maturing to a reddish-gold color. The seed develops to a fluffy silver-white. The plumes are showy when seed has matured which adds interest to a cut arrangement. Frost accents the plants, and the reddish winter color is lovely. This is a prairie grass for the garden that is truly exceptional in mass plantings.

Little bluestem has been used extensively in prairie restoration projects primarily
because of its adaptation to a diversity of sites, drought tolerance, growth habit, and wildlife appeal.