Search Field Guide
Advanced Search
MT Gov Logo
Montana Field Guide

Montana Field Guides

Indiangrass - Sorghastrum nutans

Image Copyright and Usage Information
Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: SNR
C-value: 1


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

External Links

 
General Description
Warm season, perennial bunchgrass with short rhizomes. Stems 1–2 m. Leaves: blades 5–10 mm wide, flat and lax to ascending; ligule 2–7 mm long, membranous; sheaths ciliate along margins. Inflorescence a contracted panicle, 15–30 cm long; rachis and pedicels long hairy along margins. Spikelets paired, one sessile the other pedicellate, the sessile seed bearing, 5–8 mm long; the pedicellate mostly absent and represented by only the naked pedicel; glumes straw colored, acute, rounded on back and completely enveloping the florets. Lemmas with a bent awn 10–18 mm long; palea inconspicuous. Disarticulation below the glumes; unit of dispersal the spikelet pair (Lavin in Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Range Comments
Yellowstone County and reported from reclamation area in Rosebud County (John Rumely, personal communication). Throughout central and eastern North America (Lavin in Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 1

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat

References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • Brey, C.W. 1998. Epidemiology of wheat curl mite (Aceria tosichella K.) and wheat streak mosaic virus on feral grass species and effect of glyphosate on wheat curl mite dispersal. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 136 p.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
  • Web Search Engines for Articles on "Indiangrass"
Login Logout

Take us with you! PDF icon

Look for this PDF icon as you search and browse.  Click it to build a custom PDF with species shown on that page or for all the species within that taxonomic level.  To create your own list of species, use the PDF Creator tool at the bottom of the Advanced Search page.

Here's some links if you want to download a whole group.

Mammals
Birds
Reptiles
Amphibians
Fish
Invertebrates
Butterflies / Moths
Dragonflies / Damselflies
Ferns and allies
Conifers
Flowering Plants (Dicots)
Flowering Plants (Monocots)
Bryophytes
Lichens
Ecological Systems
Noxious Weeds
Citation for data on this website:
Indiangrass — Sorghastrum nutans.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from