Native Prairie Grasses

Little Bluestem (Andropogon scoparius)
is a native warm-season perennial grass that grows to a height of 2 to 4 feet. It often dominates dry prairie areas and can be identified by its flat, bluish colored shoots at the bottom of the plant. Summer leaf coloration ranges through a variety of blue and green hues. After an October frost, little bluestem takes on a reddish tint with bronze-red to orange leaves topped by fluffy, silvery-white seed heads in the fall.

Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi Vitman)
was the chief grass of the tallgrass prairie and was once the dominant plant of the Iowa landscape. Big bluestem begins growth in April and flowers in late summer. The plant is sometimes called "turkey foot" because the seed head is usually branched into three parts and resembles a turkey's foot. The flowers of big bluestem are spikelets borne in pairs, one sessile, one pedicelled. Big bluestem varies in color from bronze to lead-gray and commonly grows to a height of 5 to 8 feet. The leaves are very nutritious for cattle, and it is being rediscovered as commercial hay and a forage plant.

Sideoats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)
is a medium sized, warm-season native bunchgrass. It is the largest species of the grama grasses, reaching up to three feet in height. The best growing sites for sideoats grama are those with shallow soil, fairly low moisture level and good drainage. Because it is so drought tolerant it often becomes abundant following prolonged dry periods. The color of the grass is bluish-green and cures to a reddish-brown color in the fall. The leaves are fairly coarse and stiff. Blooms occur along only one side of the seed stalk and are bright red. The mature seeds droop from this one edge, thus attributing to the name.

Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans)
is a warm-season bunchgrass, native to most of the United States. It spreads by seed and scaly underground rhizones. This perennial produces a tall, robust, vigorous plant, 3 to 8 feet tall, with wide bluegreen leaves. Indiangrass is distinguished by its long, golden, plumelike seed heads which can be from 4 to 12 inches long. The leaves of indiangrass spread from the stem at approximately a 45 degree angle. It is often found growing in areas dominated by big or little bluestem. Indiangrass is both cold and drought resistant. It can be found in all soil textures throughout the eastern half of the United States as well as the desert southwest.

The native grasses mix seeded on the Cherokee County C-16 Prairie Reconstruction contains all of the above described species as well as an annual ryegrass, Canada wild rye, switchgrass, trailway, and blue grama. The seed mix applied to the approximate 54 acres within the Cherokee County Road C-16 Prairie Reconstruction Project is the same mix that is recommended by the Iowa Department of Transportation (2601.04).