San Marcos Growers LogoSan Marcos Growers
New User
Wholesale Login
Enter Password
Home Products Purchase Gardens About Us Resources Contact Us
Nursery Closure
Search Utilities
Plant Database
Search Plant Name
Detail Search Avanced Search Go Button
Search by size, origins,
details, cultural needs
Website Search Search Website GO button
Search for any word
Site Map
Retail Locator
Plant Listings

PLANT TYPE
PLANT GEOGRAPHY
PLANT INDEX
ALL PLANT LIST
PLANT IMAGE INDEX
PLANT INTROS
SPECIALTY CROPS
NEW  2024 PLANTS

PRIME LIST
  for OCTOBER


Natives at San Marcos Growers
Succulents at San Marcos Growers
 Weather Station

 
Products > Bothriochloa barbinodis
 
Bothriochloa barbinodis - Cane Bluestem

Note: This plant is not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.  
Image of Bothriochloa barbinodis
[2nd Image]
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Grass
Family: Poaceae (Gramineae) (Grasses)
Origin: California (U.S.A.)
California Native (Plant List): Yes
Bloomtime: Summer/Fall
Parentage: (Andropogon barbinodis)
Height: 3-4 feet
Width: 3-4 feet
Exposure: Full Sun
Summer Dry: Yes
Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: <15° F
Bothriochloa barbinodis (Cane Bluestem) - A warm-season deciduous medium-sized clumping grass that can grow to 4 feet tall and wide with pale green foliage and fluffy silvery-white flower heads that appear in summer through early fall. Fall foliage is a blush of reds and oranges and in winter the entire plant takes on a gray-white cast. Not picky about soil conditions, but grows best in a well-draining moist soil in full sun but is quite drought tolerant along the coast. Hardy to below 15° F. It is native to California from San Diego County to Ventura County (at some time maybe into Santa Barbara) where it grows in dry hilly locations. It also can be found across the American Southwest to New Mexico. We first grew this wonderful native grass in 1992 though discontinued growing it a few years later because it was underappreciated. We started growing it again in 2010 because we really like it and at the urging of native plant specialist Carol Bornstein. The name for the genus comes from Greek words 'bothrion' meaning a "furrow" "pit" or "trench" and 'chloa' meaning "a blade of grass" in reference to a distinct groove in the joints and pedicels. The specific epithet combines the Latin words 'barba' meaning "beard" and 'nodus' meaning "joint" for the hairy nodes of this plant. It has previously been treated as Andropogon barbinodis. 

This information about Bothriochloa barbinodis displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.

 
  [MORE INFO]