''Andropogon hallii'' (sand bluestem, sand hill bluestem, Hall's bluestem, Hall's beardgrass, prairie bluestem, turkey-foot) is a sod-forming

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

species in the grass family, Poaceae. It is a

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perenni ...

which grows in tufts and can reach 7 feet (2.1 meters) in height under favorable conditions. Sand bluestem is native to North America. It is found growing from the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

west to the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

and from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places *Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mun ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. It prefers sandy soils and will dominate in areas that average less than 30 inches of rain annually. Sand bluestem is a high quality

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also us ...

with good palatability for livestock, but it cannot stand up to continuous heavy grazing. It is also valuable as browse for wildlife and as a source of edible seeds and nesting habitat for upland birds.

References

hallii Bunchgrasses of North America Grasses of the United States Grasses of Canada Native grasses of the Great Plains region Flora of Mexico Flora of the United States Flora of the Canadian Prairies Forages {{Panicoideae-stub