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Index / Search / Sorghastrum nutans

§1 Plant

Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash

vernacular Indiangrass — species · Poaceae

USDA
SONU2
GBIF
2704414
Rank
species
Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans)
Platephotograph · Erica FraleyCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Sorghastrum
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1,219 counties across 36 states/territories
Legend Native · 1219 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
Medium
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
120 min.
Precipitation
11–45 in/yr
pH range
4.8–8
Root depth
24 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
Coarse
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
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
174,720
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 1,219 counties across 36 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 18 N ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 40 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 2 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Florida view state ↗ 15 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 23 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 102 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 48 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 48 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 105 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 55 N ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 25 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Maryland view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 32 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 60 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 18 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 62 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 53 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 4 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 17 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 36 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 74 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 9 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 46 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 50 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 28 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 45 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 80 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 26 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 49 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SONU2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2704414 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T08:39:52Z