Plant of the Month: Silver Bluestem

Presented by Gabriella Bible
June 13, 2022

Botanical name: Bothriochloa laguroides
Common names: Silver Bluestem, Silver Beardgrass
Family: Poaceae (Grass)

[MUS—EASY AND FUN]

[GABRIELLA] Hello. My name is Gabriella Bible and I’ll be doing the Silver Bluestem today.

Another common name for the Silver Bluestem is Silver Beardgrass. It comes from the Poaceae family, the grass family, and is distributed along the southern region of the United States. I was able to get this chart from the USDA Plants website showing where it’s both native and introduced in the United States. The Silver Bluestem tends to grow in grasslands, prairies, roadsides, river bottoms, and woodland areas.

Plant Characteristics

Some plant characteristics of the Silver Bluestem would be that it’s a perennial, a grass, and produces white flowers. It blooms between May and November. The fruit type would be caryopsis, and I have some pictures of the seeds to the side. It has simple parallel, alternating leaves and can grow between one to three feet.

Growth Conditions

Some growth conditions would be that it is adapted to medium and coarse soil. It is drought tolerant and shade intolerant. And the minimum temperature that it can survive at is negative 23 degrees Fahrenheit.

And here are my resources. And that’s it. Thank you.

[MUS—AND THAT’S IT]