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Biota
Schizachyrium maritimum
EOL Text
Depth range based on 6 specimens in 1 taxon.
Environmental ranges
Depth range (m): 1 - 1
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License | http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Ocean Biogeographic Information System |
Source | http://www.iobis.org/mapper/?taxon_id=788512 |
Gulf bluestem can be successfully established using container grown or bareroot plant materials. Vegetative propagules from plant division or lower stem nodal tissue are used for nursery production.
Container grown or bareroot propagules should be planted on 2-5 foot centers on the primary dune ridge and back side and the more stable dune and swale areas behind the primary dune. Interspacing with other desirable dune species enhances habitat diversity and conservation effectiveness. Apply a blended fertilizer broadcast or slow release tablet or packet with each plant when planting. Gulf bluestem produces viable seed. The potential establishment of gulf bluestem by seed is being evaluated at the Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center in Galliano, Louisiana.
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: N3 - Vulnerable
Rounded Global Status Rank: G3 - Vulnerable
This species is ranked on the Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Species state heritage conservation status lists in Alabama and Louisiana as an S1 (extensive rarity and factors which make it especially vulnerable to extirpation), and a global ranking by NatureServe.org of G3 (very rare and local throughout its range).
Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural Resources for this plant’s current status (e.g. threatened or endangered species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).
There are no pests of concern associated with this species.
Timbalier Germplasm Gulf Bluestem is a tested pre-varietal plant materials release available from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center in Galliano, Louisiana.
Known as gulf bluestem or seacoast bluestem, Schizachyrium maritimum is a patchy and locally distributed coastal dune grass. It is native to the North American Gulf Coast and offshore islands from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle. A low, creeping grass, it grows in distinct clumps separated from each other by sand. Its characteristic blue-grey leaf blades can grow to about 1-3 feet (0.3-1 m) long. The stems grow along the sand rather than upward, then get held down as roots develop at each stem segment (or node). This makes gulf bluestem very effective in trapping and stabilizing sand, and an important native grass in the formation of sand dunes.
Gulf bluestem is a warm-season, perennial grass. It is a dominant species in stable, climax communities on back sand dunes (those furthest from the sea). Because it has some tolerance for salt spray, it also grows on intermediary dunes and the backside of primary dunes (those closest to the sea). Though it can survive burial by sand, gulf bluestem is not tolerant of flooding. This generally prevents it from thriving on the ocean size of primary dunes.
Gulf bluestem flowers between August and November. In late summer as the large seed heads mature, they become covered by thick white-grey hairs. This grass develops from seed, but also spreads by long underground runners called rhizomes. Its low, straggly growth contributes resources and habitat for many small mammals and birds. A notable example is the endangered beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus). This mouse depends on seed from gulf bluestem as an important component of its diet.
The states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama list gulf bluestem as “Imperiled” or "Critically Imperiled." Many factors, such as shoreline erosion, development, off-road vehicles, overgrazing and contaminants, threaten its small numbers. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has developed a hardier gulf bluestem strain, called the Timbalier strain, which establishes itself well. This strain will be used in projects to restore and enhance delicate native coastal beach and dune habitats. It may also encourage the use of this grass in commercial and residential landscaping.
(Barkworth et al. 2007; Darovec et al. 1975; Rine 2007; Fontenot and Fine 2010; Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center, USDA NRCS 2007; Gornish and Miller 2013; Rare plants of Louisiana; Miller et al. 2010; Miller et al. 2014; Natureserve 2015; Thetford and Miller 2002, 2004; Williams 2007)
- Barkworth, M.E., L.K. Anderton, K.M. Capels, S. Long and M.B. Piep, 2007. Manual of Grasses for North America. Utah State University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0874216868
- Darovec Jr, J. E., Carlton, J. M., Pulver, T. R., Moffler, M.D., Smith, G.B., Whitfield Jr. W.K., Willis, C.A., Steidinger, K.A., and E.A. Joyce Jr., 1975. Techniques for coastal restoration and fishery enhancement in Florida. Florida Marine Research Publications, Number 15. Florida Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved August 28, 2015 from http://aquaticcommons.org/780/1/FMRP015.pdf
- Fine, G., 2007 Gulf Bluestem. Plant Fact Sheet. USDA NRCS Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center, Galliano, Louisiana. Retrieved August 27 2015 from http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_scma3.pdf
- Fontenot, Q. and G. Fine, 2010. Status of Plant Materials at the Nicholls State University Farm. Louisiana Native Plant Initiative Nicholls State University Farm Annual Report. Retrieved August 30 2015 from http://www.nicholls.edu/biol-jc/Nicholls_Farm_page/LNPI-Nicholls-Farm-201011.pdf.
- Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center, USDA NRCS, January 2007. Timbalier
- Gulf Bluestem (Schizachyrium maritimum), fact sheet. Retrieved August 30, 2015 from http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/lapmcrb7407.pdf
- Gornish, E. S. and Miller, T. E. 2013. Using long-term census data to inform restoration methods for coastal dune vegetation. Estuaries and coasts, 36(5), 1014-1023.
- Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries/Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program Factsheet. Rare plants of Louisiana. Retrieved August 27 2015 from http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/fact_sheet_plant/32116-Schizachyrium%20maritimum/schizachyrium_maritimum.pdf
- Miller, T. E., Gornish, E. S., and Buckley, H. L. 2010. Climate and coastal dune vegetation: disturbance, recovery, and succession. Plant ecology, 206(1), 97-104.
- Miller, D.E., M. Thetford, J. Dupree, and L. Atwood, 2014. Influence of Seasonal Changes and Shifting Substrate on Survival of Restoration Plantings of Schizachyrium maritimum (Gulf Bluestem) on Santa Rosa Island, Florida. Journal of Coastal Research: Volume 30, Issue 2: pp. 237 – 247.
- NatureServe. 2015. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?sourceTemplate=tabular_report.wmt&loadTemplate=species_RptComprehensive.wmt&selectedReport=RptComprehensive.wmt&summaryView=tabular_report.wmt&elKey=136557&paging=home&save=true&startIndex=1&nextStartIndex=1&reset=false&offPageSelectedElKey=136557&offPageSelectedElType=species&offPageYesNo=true&post_processes=&radiobutton=radiobutton&selectedIndexes=136557. (Accessed: August 31, 2015 ).
- Thetford, M. and Miller, D., 2002. Propagation of 4 Florida coastal dune species. Native Plants Journal, 3(2), 112-120.
- Thetford, M., & Miller, D. 2004. Propagation and Production of Gulf Bluestem1. EDIS document ENH974, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Retrieved August 28, 2015 from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/EP/EP23100.pdf
- Williams, M.J., 2007. Native Plants for Coastal Restoration: What, When, and How for Florida. USDA, NRCS, Brooksville Plant Materials Center, Brooksville, FL. Page 16. (http://www.fl.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/pmc/flplantmaterials.html)
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Dana Campbell, Dana Campbell |
Source | No source database. |
No special management strategy is needed other than restricting traffic during the first year of establishment.
Gulf bluestem is a native, warm-season, perennial grass that spreads by seed and short rhizomes. Plants are rhizomatous and colonial, stems usually decumbent, glaucous, reddish, and flattened at the base, terminal inflorescences with stalked spikelets. Found native to coastal and offshore islands of the Florida panhandle west to Louisiana.