. Common plants of longleaf pine-bluestem range. Plant ecology; Grasses; Forage plants. PINEHILL BLUESTEM Andropogon divergens (Hack.) Anderss. ex Hitchc. Pinehill bluestem is the most important forage grass on most ranges; therefore, it is the key man- agement species. It grows on most upland sites, but produces best on well-drained soils. Unlike slender bluestem, its common associate, pinehill bluestem tolerates moderately dense shade. Hence, it is frequently the dominant grass under pine. On open land, it usually shares dominance with slender bluestem, the two often yielding more than half
. Common plants of longleaf pine-bluestem range. Plant ecology; Grasses; Forage plants. PINEHILL BLUESTEM Andropogon divergens (Hack.) Anderss. ex Hitchc. Pinehill bluestem is the most important forage grass on most ranges; therefore, it is the key man- agement species. It grows on most upland sites, but produces best on well-drained soils. Unlike slender bluestem, its common associate, pinehill bluestem tolerates moderately dense shade. Hence, it is frequently the dominant grass under pine. On open land, it usually shares dominance with slender bluestem, the two often yielding more than half of the total herbage. Pinehill bluestem main- tains abundance when moderately grazed but de- creases under continuous heavy grazing. Plants vary widely in appearance; some are extremely hairy, others practically hairless. Most specimens are green during the growing season, but some are grayish to chalky. Under average growing conditions, height is about 3 feet. Unless plants are crowded, basal leaves are usually nu- merous. The abundance of broad leaves probably accounts for the high preference cattle show for this grass. Pinehill bluestem's nearest relative on pine forest ranges is little bluestem, Andropogon scoparius Michx. The two species are very similar in gen- eral appearance. Pinehill bluestem has short, rough, scaly rhizomes, however, while little bluestem is a true bunchgrass. In pinehill bluestem, the pedicel- late and sessile spikelets are equal in length, and each has well-developed glumes, lemma, and palea. In little bluestem, however, the pedicellate spikelet is merely a rudimentary glume less than half as long as the sessile spikelet. Leaf blades of pinehill blue- stem are about twice as long as those of little blue- stem. Because of similar herbage yields, palatability, and nutritive values, the two bluestems may be con- sidered as a single entity in management. Little bluestem is considerably the scarcer of the two species. Range: Pinelands of Texas, Louisiana
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