Big Bluestem

This is the time of year for the tall grasses to flower. It’s not always easy to see these small flowers and many people walk by without giving them a glance. There’s got to be a flower in order to get a seed and the tall grasses are master seed producers. Flowering of the Big Bluestem, Andropogon gerardii, is now at its peak at Blue Jay Barrens.

I’ve seen a steady increase in Big Bluestem over the past 25 years. When I first began managing the property, Big Bluestem was uncommon and at one point I even wondered if it might be lost from this area. It’s just been in the last five years that I’ve come to view Big Bluestem as a dominant grass in the Blue Jay Barrens landscape.

When you actively manage a property, you expect certain responses to your actions. You can have a general idea of what those responses will be, but it’s hard to predict specifics. I’m wondering if this explosion of Big Bluestem is directly related to my management activities or if it’s a natural next step in the evolution of the ecosystem that’s developing on this site.

In 1994 I began a serious program of clearing to bring sunlight to prairie openings that were in danger of being shaded by invading woody species. I cleared two to three acres each year for the next ten years. I’m puzzled by the fact that time of clearing didn’t seem to influence the rate of Big Bluestem appearance in the fields. If my clearing was the catalyst for an increase in Big Bluestem, the grass should have been found first in those earliest clearings. Instead, the increase occurred in all clearings at about the same time.

Big Bluestem has taken hold in the most bare of the barrens, areas that are not much more than crushed stone over bedrock. These areas are inhospitable enough that woody species never got a chance to grow to block the sunlight. They’ve been open for decades, so why is it just now that Big Bluestem has found them a suitable place to grow? I can make changes and set things on a new course, but this is an ecological system I’m working with and it has an inherent direction that it is trying to take. As a manager, about all I can do is remove obstacles that might hinder its progress and hope the result is something spectacular.

Big Bluestem

The tall prairie grasses are now making their push towards greatness. The king of the tall grasses at Blue Jay Barrens, at least by height, is the Big Bluestem, Andropogon gerardii. Shown above is the flowering portion of this wonderful grass.

This particular Big Bluestem plant is the growth leader this year. Unlike the others of its kind, this little clump is growing in an area of deep soil and the grass has responded to these more favorable conditions. These stalks topped out at a little over nine feet.

Here’s a close-up of some seed stalks at the joints. Big Bluestem has a bluish blush to it when seen from a distance, but on close examination it’s hard to find blue on the plant. These joints were the only place I could any blue on this specimen.

These plants growing on the dry hillside are just beginning to stick up a seed stalk. Even here, the Big Bluestem is dwarfing the surrounding vegetation. When I bought this property, Big Bluestem was a rarity here. It responded extremely well to the extra sunlight afforded by the cedar clearing.

This is one prairie plant that I can photograph from below without crouching. When I stand beside this grass, I can’t help thinking about the early settlers getting lost in the towering prairie grasses as they sought new homes in the west. I managed to navigate this clump of grass without losing my bearings.