BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Sporobolus heterolepis | Prairie Dropseed 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Prairie dropseed is a native, perennial, sod-forming, warm-season grass.
It is 1 to 3 feet (0.5-1 m) tall, densely tufted, with alternate basal
leaves.  Its leaves are half as long as its stout culms; the panicles
are purple to black and up to 11.8 inches (30 cm) long [12,23].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Prairie dropseed regenerates by seed.  In germination tests, seeds
stratified in dry soil for 10 weeks germinated in 7 days; peak
germination occurred in 25 days.  Greenhouse temperatures during the day
varied between 70 and 90 degrees F (21-32 deg C) and at night varied
between 40 and 70 degrees F (4-21 deg C) [25].  Other tests showed that
only slightly more seeds germinated when stratified than when
unstratified [18].  Prairie dropseed does not establish well when direct
seeded [25].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Prairie dropseed is a tallgrass species that grows in mesic prairies,
well-drained moraines, rock outcrops, glades, pine savannahs and
barrens, lightly grazed pastures, and along railroad and highway
rights-of-way [3,5,14,23].  In Colorado it grows at elevations between
5,300 and 7,200 feet (1,615-2,195 m) [19].  Soil types in Kansas include
shallow, cherty, clay loams and deep silty, clay loams [15].  In North
Dakota prairie dropseed grows in Hamerly and Barnes soil types in
moderately drained rolling plains [24].

Associates include bluestems (Andropogon/Schizachyrium spp.), gramas
(Bouteloua spp.), junegrass (Koeleria cristata), porcupine grass (Stipa
spartea), panic grass (Panicum spp.), indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans),
northern bedstraw (Galium boreale), common goldstar (Hypoxis hirsuta),
mountain deathcamas (Zygadenus elegans), leadplant (Amorpha canescens),
green milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora), coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.),
purple sorrel (Oxalis violacea), phlox (Phlox spp.), and yellow cone
flower (Ratibida pinnata) [2,5,8,].  Species that invade prairie
dropseed areas include Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), smooth brome
(Bromus inermis), and quackgrass (Elytrigia repens) [3].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Prairie dropseed is a climax species that is codominant with little
bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) in some community types of Ohio and
Minnesota [8,20].  It codominates with prairie dropseed, big bluestem
(Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii), and indiangrass on remnant mesic
prairies in Indiana [5].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Prairie dropseed flowers and fruits from August through November
[12,23].

Related categories for Species: Sporobolus heterolepis | Prairie Dropseed