Andropogon ternarius Michx. Splitbeard Bluestem Habit: Tufted perennial. Culms: Erect, 80-120 cm. tall, simple below the upper half or more branching with long slender erect branches; upper nodes sometimes pubescent, otherwise glabrous. Blades: Often purplish-glaucous, glabrous or the lower loosely hairy near the base, the upper very short, the lower 10-60 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, flat, soon becoming revolute. Sheaths: Mostly shorter than the internodes, smooth to slightly rough. Ligule: Membranous, truncate, about 1 mm. long. Inflorescence: Elongate, loose, of a few to many pairs of silvery to creamy or grayish feathery racemes, usually on long-exserted peduncles from slender inconspicuous spathes, some of the lateral peduncles often short, from dilated spathes, rarely most of them so: racemes 3-6 cm. long, with mostly less than 12 joints, the rachis not flexuous, the internodes shorter than the spikelets, copiously long-villous. Spikelets: Sessile spikelets 5-7 mm. long, lanceolate, acuminate. Pedicellate spikelet of a single lanceolate glume 1-3 mm. long, scabrous, the pedicel a little shorter than the sessile spikelet, long villous. Glumes: Of the sessile spikelets membranous, lanceolate, acuminate, the first broad at the base, deeply depressed on the back, 2-toothed, hairy on the 2 keels, a nerve between the keels above, the second about as long as the first, ciliate, scabrous keeled, 3-nerved. Of the pedicellate spikelet single, lanceolate, 1-3 mm. long, scabrous. Lemmas: Of the sessile spikelet sterile lemma and lemma shorter than the glumes, hyaline. Lemma about 2-15. mm. long, with an awn from the bifid apex, 15-25 mm. long, more or less twisted, scabrous, straight or slightly bent or curved. Stamens: 3. Habitat: Dry, sandy soil, open woods. Late summer and autumn. Synonyms: Andropogon ternarius Michx. var. ternarius Andropogon ternarius Michx. var. glaucescens (Scribn.) Fern. & Grisc.