Plantae > Tracheophyta > Liliopsida > Poales > Poaceae > Bothriochloa > Bothriochloa saccharoides

Bothriochloa saccharoides (silver bluestem)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Bothriochloa saccharoides is a species of grass known by the common name silver bluestem. It is native to the Americas, including Mexico, the Caribbean, and parts of Central and South America. This perennial bunchgrass grows to 2 to 3 feet in height. The leaves reach 8 inches long. The stems are often purplish toward the base. The inflorescence is white and hairy. The plant produces many seeds. This species is used for grazing cattle, especially in the spring before the inflorescences form. Goats eat the seed heads. The grass can be added to a hay mix.
View Wikipedia Record: Bothriochloa saccharoides

Infraspecies

Attributes

Bloom Period [1]  Summer
Drought Tolerance [1]  High
Fire Tolerance [1]  High
Frost Free Days [1]  4 months 20 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [1]  Medium
Fruit/Seed Begin [1]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [1]  Fall
Growth Form [1]  Bunch
Growth Period [1]  Summer
Growth Rate [1]  Moderate
Leaf Type [1]  Deciduous
Lifespan [1]  Perennial
Propagation [1]  Seed
Regrowth Rate [1]  Moderate
Root Depth [1]  12 inches (30 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [1]  Moderate
Seed Vigor [1]  Medium
Seeds Per [1]  80000 / lb (176370 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [1]  Semi-Erect
Structure [2]  Grass
Vegetative Spread Rate [1]  Moderate
Fall Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Height [1]  24 inches (0.6 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 4 Low Temperature: -30 F° (-34.4 C°) → -20 F° (-28.9 C°)
Light Preference [1]  Full Sun
Soil Acidity [1]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [1]  Infertile
Water Use [1]  Moderate
Foliage Color [1]  Green
Fruit Color [1]  Brown
Screening - Summer [1]  Porous
Screening - Winter [1]  Porous

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
El Palmar National Park II   Entre Rios, Argentina  
Grand Canyon National Park II 1210128 Arizona, United States
Jornada Biosphere Reserve Ib 30913 New Mexico, United States
Mburucuyá National Park II   Corrientes, Argentina  

Predators

Ammotragus lervia (aoudad)[3]
Antonina graminis (felted grass coccid)[4]

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
2Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935
3Ammotragus lervia, Gary G. Gray and C. David Simpson, Mammalian Species No. 144, pp. 1-7 (1980)
4Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0