BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Andropogon ternarius | Paintbrush Bluestem 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Paintbrush bluestem is a native, warm-season, perennial bunchgrass
[13,16,19,24] which forms bunches 2 to 8 inches (5-20 cm) or more in
diameter [24].  Culms are 20 to 47 inches (50-120 cm) tall [13,19].  The
upper half to two-thirds of the culm is branching [19,24]; the branches
are long, slender and erect [19].  The inflorescence has three to six
pairs of racemes [13,16,19].  Spikelets are paired:  The sessile fertile
spikelet is 0.20 to 0.28 inches (5-7 mm) long; the pedicel of the
rudimentary spikelet is long-villous [19].  The awn on the fertile lemma
is 0.63 to 0.98 inches (16-25 mm) long [16,29].  The fruit is a
caryopsis [16].

Paintbrush bluestem roots in sandy, oldfield soil on the Coastal Plain
of South Carolina went no deeper than 6 inches (15 cm).  They did not
extend laterally beyond the aerial portion of the plant [5].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Paintbrush bluestem sprouts from perennating buds at the base of the
culms.  It also reproduces by seed [24].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Paintbrush bluestem occurs in open woods [13,19], woodland borders,
prairies, pastures [16], ditches [29], and waste ground [16].

Paintbrush bluestem grows best on well-drained coarse- to
medium-textured soils on ridges and knolls [24], but it grows in a wide
variety of soils, including some that are poor in nutrients.

Paintbrush bluestem on the Coastal Plain of South Carolina grew in the
nutrient-poor sandy soil of an old field.  Soil nutrients in this field
decreased in the 35 years since abandonment [5].  On the South Carolina
lower Atlantic Coastal Plain paintbrush bluestem occurred on clayey,
strongly acid, poorly drained soils [12].

In the Grand Prairie region of eastern Arkansas, paintbrush bluestem grows
on loessal terrace deposits of the Mississippi alluvial plain at
elevations of 187 to 220 feet (57-67 m).  The silty loam soils where
paintbrush bluestem occurs are acid and poorly to moderately drained.
Topsoil is 20 to 24 inches (50-60 cm) thick, but strongly leached and
only moderately fertile [21].

Paintbrush bluestem in northwest Florida grew in comparatively dry deep
sand on sandhills [17].  Paintbrush bluestem in Durham County, North
Carolina, grew on sandy loam soil [3].

Paintbrush bluestem in western Louisiana grew in pitcher plant bogs.
Elevation was 197 to 276 feet (60-84 m).  Soil was fine, slow-draining,
permanently damp loam with pH 4.5 to 5.1 [25].  On the West Gulf Coastal
Plain of southwestern Louisiana, paintbrush bluestem grew on excessively
drained sandy soils of sandhill woodland-barrens as well as on the
well-drained sandy soils of longleaf pine savannas.  Both soils were
nutrient deficient [4].  Paintbrush bluestem in the Palustris
Experimental Forest grew in deep, silty loam soils with moderate to slow
internal drainage [8].

Paintbrush bluestem in east-central Texas grew on fine sandy loam of
good quality [1].

Paintbrush bluestem in central Oklahoma occurred on naturally
revegetated abandoned cropland and depleted ranges.  Soil was low in
nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and organic matter [28].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Paintbrush bluestem and broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus) dominate old
fields throughout the South, and often persist for many years [21].
Paintbrush bluestem is moderately shade tolerant [24].

Paintbrush bluestem occurred in a midsuccessional South Carolina coastal
plain oldfield that had been abandoned for 35 years [5].

Paintbrush bluestem was found in the Piedmont region of the Carolinas on
fields abandoned because of soil erosion and deterioration.  Where
several inches of topsoil remained, the herbaceous plant succession
began with annual weeds, passed rapidly through a perennial weed stage,
and culminated, usually within 5 years, in a bluestem (Andropogon spp.)
community which included paintbrush bluestem.  This stage persisted
until invading loblolly pine and shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata)
developed a closed canopy which shaded out the grasses.  If most of the
A horizon of the soil was lost, succession remained in the annual weed
stage until soil improved enough to support the bluestem community.  In
these conditions pines sometimes followed annuals directly, and the
bluestem stage was excluded [26].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Paintbrush bluestem growth starts about April.  Basal leaves remain
green until late fall; some leaves at the center of large bunches stay
green all winter [24].

Paintbrush bluestem blooms August to October in the Great Plains [16]
and September and October in the Carolinas [29].  It blooms in autumn in
the West Gulf Coastal Plain of southwestern Louisiana [4].

Paintbrush bluestem clumps in a South Carolina oldfield broomsedge
community were measured for several morphological traits.  Clumps did
not flower until they reached a basal diameter of at least 1.2 inches (3
cm).  All clumps with basal diameters of 3.1 or more inches (8 cm)
flowered.  Height of live stems increased with basal diameter of clumps [14].

Related categories for Species: Andropogon ternarius | Paintbrush Bluestem