Index / Search / Andropogon gerardii
§1 Plant
Andropogon gerardii Vitman
vernacular big bluestem — species · Poaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Graminoid
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Monocot
- Family
- Poaceae Barnhart
- Genus
- Andropogon
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 401 counties across 19 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- High
- Shade
- High
- Moisture use
- Low
- Fire
- High
- Salinity
- Medium
- Anaerobic
- Medium
- CaCO₃
- High
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -46 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 155 min.
- Precipitation
- 12–55 in/yr
- pH range
- 6–7.5
- Root depth
- 20 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium, fine
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Bunch
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Lifespan
- Long
- Mature height
- 6 ft
- Foliage texture
- Medium
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Dense
- Porosity (winter)
- Porous
- Flower colour
- Yellow
- Fruit colour
- Brown
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Seed abundance
- Medium
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Fall
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 144,240
- Propagation
- seed
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- No
- Browse palatability
- Medium
- Graze palatability
- High
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Medium
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 401 counties across 19 states/territories.
Alabama view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 45 N ▾
- Arkansas 05001
- Ashley 05003
- Baxter 05005
- Benton 05007
- Boone 05009
- Bradley 05011
- Carroll 05015
- Cleburne 05023
- Conway 05029
- Drew 05043
- Faulkner 05045
- Franklin 05047
- Fulton 05049
- Garland 05051
- Grant 05053
- Greene 05055
- Independence 05063
- Izard 05065
- Jackson 05067
- Jefferson 05069
- Johnson 05071
- Little River 05081
- Logan 05083
- Lonoke 05085
- Marion 05089
- Miller 05091
- Montgomery 05097
- Newton 05101
- Perry 05105
- Polk 05113
- Pope 05115
- Prairie 05117
- Pulaski 05119
- Randolph 05121
- Saline 05125
- Searcy 05129
- Sebastian 05131
- Sharp 05135
- St. Francis 05123
- Stone 05137
- Union 05139
- Van Buren 05141
- Washington 05143
- White 05145
- Yell 05149
Delaware view state ↗ 2 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Florida view state ↗ 15 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 28 N ▾
- Baker 13007
- Bartow 13015
- Catoosa 13047
- Columbia 13073
- Dade 13083
- Dawson 13085
- Dougherty 13095
- Douglas 13097
- Forsyth 13117
- Grady 13131
- Harris 13145
- Jackson 13157
- Jasper 13159
- Jefferson 13163
- Lee 13177
- Lumpkin 13187
- Madison 13195
- Oconee 13219
- Pickens 13227
- Pike 13231
- Rabun 13241
- Stephens 13257
- Tift 13277
- Toombs 13279
- Towns 13281
- Union 13291
- Walker 13295
- Worth 13321
Kentucky view state ↗ 58 N ▾
- Ballard 21007
- Barren 21009
- Bath 21011
- Bell 21013
- Breckinridge 21027
- Bullitt 21029
- Calloway 21035
- Carter 21043
- Casey 21045
- Christian 21047
- Clark 21049
- Crittenden 21055
- Edmonson 21061
- Estill 21065
- Fayette 21067
- Fleming 21069
- Franklin 21073
- Garrard 21079
- Graves 21083
- Grayson 21085
- Hardin 21093
- Harlan 21095
- Harrison 21097
- Hart 21099
- Henry 21103
- Jackson 21109
- Jefferson 21111
- Jessamine 21113
- Larue 21123
- Laurel 21125
- Lee 21129
- Lewis 21135
- Livingston 21139
- Logan 21141
- Lyon 21143
- Madison 21151
- Marion 21155
- Marshall 21157
- McCracken 21145
- McCreary 21147
- Meade 21163
- Menifee 21165
- Metcalfe 21169
- Montgomery 21173
- Nelson 21179
- Ohio 21183
- Perry 21193
- Powell 21197
- Pulaski 21199
- Robertson 21201
- Rowan 21205
- Scott 21209
- Todd 21219
- Trigg 21221
- Warren 21227
- Whitley 21235
- Wolfe 21237
- Woodford 21239
Maine view state ↗ 10 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Montana view state ↗ 3 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 10 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 19 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 49 N ▾
- Albany 36001
- Bronx 36005
- Cattaraugus 36009
- Cayuga 36011
- Chautauqua 36013
- Chemung 36015
- Clinton 36019
- Columbia 36021
- Delaware 36025
- Dutchess 36027
- Erie 36029
- Franklin 36033
- Fulton 36035
- Genesee 36037
- Greene 36039
- Hamilton 36041
- Herkimer 36043
- Jefferson 36045
- Kings 36047
- Livingston 36051
- Madison 36053
- Monroe 36055
- Montgomery 36057
- Nassau 36059
- Niagara 36063
- Oneida 36065
- Onondaga 36067
- Ontario 36069
- Orange 36071
- Oswego 36075
- Putnam 36079
- Rensselaer 36083
- Richmond 36085
- Rockland 36087
- Saratoga 36091
- Schenectady 36093
- Seneca 36099
- St. Lawrence 36089
- Steuben 36101
- Suffolk 36103
- Sullivan 36105
- Tioga 36107
- Tompkins 36109
- Ulster 36111
- Warren 36113
- Washington 36115
- Wayne 36117
- Westchester 36119
- Yates 36123
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 50 N ▾
- Allegheny 42003
- Armstrong 42005
- Beaver 42007
- Bedford 42009
- Berks 42011
- Blair 42013
- Bradford 42015
- Bucks 42017
- Butler 42019
- Cameron 42023
- Carbon 42025
- Centre 42027
- Chester 42029
- Clarion 42031
- Clearfield 42033
- Clinton 42035
- Cumberland 42041
- Dauphin 42043
- Delaware 42045
- Elk 42047
- Erie 42049
- Fayette 42051
- Forest 42053
- Franklin 42055
- Fulton 42057
- Huntingdon 42061
- Indiana 42063
- Lackawanna 42069
- Lancaster 42071
- Lawrence 42073
- Lehigh 42077
- Luzerne 42079
- Lycoming 42081
- McKean 42083
- Monroe 42089
- Montgomery 42091
- Montour 42093
- Northampton 42095
- Philadelphia 42101
- Pike 42103
- Schuylkill 42107
- Snyder 42109
- Somerset 42111
- Sullivan 42113
- Venango 42121
- Warren 42123
- Wayne 42127
- Westmoreland 42129
- Wyoming 42131
- York 42133
Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 49 N ▾
- Albemarle 51003
- Alleghany 51005
- Amherst 51009
- Augusta 51015
- Bath 51017
- Bedford 51019
- Botetourt 51023
- Brunswick 51025
- Buckingham 51029
- Carroll 51035
- Craig 51045
- Culpeper 51047
- Cumberland 51049
- Dickenson 51051
- Fairfax 51059
- Fauquier 51061
- Floyd 51063
- Fluvanna 51065
- Franklin 51067
- Frederick 51069
- Giles 51071
- Gloucester 51073
- Grayson 51077
- Greene 51079
- Hanover 51085
- Henry 51089
- Highland 51091
- Lee 51105
- Loudoun 51107
- Louisa 51109
- Lunenburg 51111
- Montgomery 51121
- Nelson 51125
- New Kent 51127
- Patrick 51141
- Pittsylvania 51143
- Prince George 51149
- Pulaski 51155
- Rockbridge 51163
- Russell 51167
- Scott 51169
- Shenandoah 51171
- Spotsylvania 51177
- Sussex 51183
- Tazewell 51185
- Warren 51187
- Washington 51191
- Wise 51195
- Wythe 51197
West Virginia view state ↗ 24 N ▾
- Barbour 54001
- Braxton 54007
- Calhoun 54013
- Doddridge 54017
- Fayette 54019
- Grant 54023
- Hampshire 54027
- Harrison 54033
- Marion 54049
- Mineral 54057
- Monongalia 54061
- Monroe 54063
- Morgan 54065
- Ohio 54069
- Pocahontas 54075
- Preston 54077
- Raleigh 54081
- Randolph 54083
- Summers 54089
- Taylor 54091
- Tucker 54093
- Upshur 54097
- Webster 54101
- Wirt 54105
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/ANGE ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/4932035 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T05:06:36Z