Indian Grass

Order:Cyperales

Family: Poaceae

Genus: Sorghastrum

Species: S. nutans

Identifying Characteristics:

-This native perennial grass is 3-7' tall and unbranched

-It typically consists of tight bunches of flowering culms and their leaves. The culms are terete, glabrous, and light green to pale yellow.

-The blades of the alternate leaves are up to 2' long and ½" across; they are dull green to dark green, flat, and hairless

-The leaf sheaths are dull green, hairless, and open. The nodes of the culms are slightly swollen, dark-colored, and covered with fine silky hairs (at least when they are young). Most of the leaves are located along the lower halves of the culms

-The branchlets are some shade of golden brown or tan, mostly glabrous, and slender. However, the tips of the branchlets underneath the spikelets usually have fine silky hairs. Each branchlet terminates in a one-flowered spikelet about 1/4" (6 mm.) to 1/3" (8 mm.) long

Special Adaptations:

- The preference is full to partial sun and slightly moist to dry conditions. Various kinds of soil are tolerated, including those that can loam, clay-loam, sand, and gravel. Most growth and development occurs during the warm weather of summer because of the C4 metabolism of this grass. It can spread aggressively in some situations (e.g., prairie restorations).

-Habitats include savannas and sandy savannas, black soil prairies, clay prairies, sand prairies, gravel prairies, dolomite prairies, hill prairies, cemetery prairies, barrens with scrubby vegetation, limestone glades, grassy fens, fallow fields, roadsides, and areas along railroads