DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Schizachyrium tenerum | Slender Bluestem 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Slender bluestem occurs along the Coastal Plain from North Carolina
across the Florida panhandle to east Texas.  It occurs in the Piedmont
from North Carolina to Georgia.  It also extends north from Texas to
southeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Arkansas [21,26].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES12  Longleaf - slash pine
   FRES13  Loblolly - shortleaf pine
   FRES14  Oak - pine


STATES : 
     AL  AR  FL  GA  LA  MS  NC  OK  SC  TX


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BITH


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
   14  Great Plains


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K111  Oak - hickory - pine forest
   K112  Southern mixed forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
    70  Longleaf pine
    71  Longleaf pine - scrub oak
    83  Longleaf pine - slash pine
    85  Slash pine - hardwood


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Slender bluestem and pinehill bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium var.
divergens) are the dominent bluestems in the longleaf pine (Pinus
palustris)/bluestem range type in Louisiana and to the west [20].
Slender bluestem associates are listed for this range type in
south-central Louisiana include southern bayberry (Myrica cerifera),
shining sumac (Rhus copallina), American beautyberry (Callicarpa
americana), blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica), and broomsedge bluestem
(Andropogon virginicus) [6,7,8,9,15,18,37].  Associates in the
Washington Parish of eastern Louisiana include panicus (Panicum
aciculare), dwarf huckleberry (Gaylussacia dumosa), stiff sunflower
(Helianthus radula), and Elliott bluestem (Andropogon elliottii) [32].

Associates for the West Gulf Coastal Plain in Louisiana in typic upland
longleaf pine savanna and xeric longleaf pine savanna/sandhill woodlands
barrens include St. John's-wort (Hypericum hypericoides), flameleaf
sumac (Rhus copallina), southern bayberry, American beautyberry, tree
sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum), dicanthelium (Dicanthelium
oligosanthes), paintbrush bluestem (Andropogon ternarius), aristolochia
(Aristolochia reticulata), pinkscale gayfeather (Liatris elegans),
pityopsis (Pityopsis graminifolia), and rhynchosia (Rhynchosia spp.).
In the same region associates of slender bluestem are listed for
hillside seepage bogs and seepage slopes.  These include xyris (Xyris
ambigua), eriocaulon (Eriocaulon decangulare), sweetbay (Magnolia
virginiana), gayfeather (Liatris pycnostachya), aletris (Aletris aurea),
evergreen bayberry (Myrica heterophylla), sundew (Drosera capillaris),
and pitcher-plant (Sarracenia alata).  Associates in wetland longleaf
pine savanna include gayfeather (Liatris acidota), centella (Centella
asiatica), marshallia (Marshallia tenuifolia), bushmint (Hyptis alata),
arrowweed (Pluchea rosea), milkwort (Polygala ramosa), and rhexia
(Rhexia mariana) [4].

Associates are listed for pitcher-plant bogs in west-central Louisiana
and include sphagnum (Sphagnum spp.), beakrush (Rhynchospora rariflora),
tickseed (Coreopsis gladiata), dichanthelium (Dichanthelium spp.), large
gallberry (Ilex coriacea), and threeawn (Aristida spp.) [2].

Associates of slender bluestem for pine (Pinus spp.)/ wiregrass
(Aristida stricta) range on the lower Coastal Plain of southern Georgia
include Curtiss dropseed (sporobolus curtissii), wiregrass,
toothachegrass (Ctenium aromaticum), wireleaf dropseed (Sporobolus
teretifolius), creeping bluestem (Schizachyrium stoloniferum), bushy
bluestem (Andropogon glomeratus), and lopside Indiangrass (Sorghastrum
secundum) [27,28].

Associates of slender bluestem for dry prairies of extreme northwestern
Florida include bottlebrush three-awn (Aristida spiciformis), wiregrass,
arrowfeather (Aristida purpurascens), broomsedge bluestem, love grasses
(Eragrostis spp.), saw-palmetto (Serenoa repens), hurrahbush (Lyonia
lucida), and ground blueberry (Vaccinium myrsinites) [1].

An extensive list of species associated with slender bluestem on the
Trinity River floodplain, east Texas, is available [30].

Related categories for Species: Schizachyrium tenerum | Slender Bluestem