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Hairy Bluestem

Andropogon hirsutior

Found in wet pine savannas, pine flatwoods, adjacent ditches, seepage over rock outcrops (in the upper Piedmont), other wet disturbed sites. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you

55
Strong

Native to Mississippi. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 65%

Height
Up to about 6 feet
Soil moisture
Average to wet
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At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial

Not yet recorded · Spread · Light · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 2 Mississippi counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 6

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

Pine flatwoods

Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits

Cliffs, ledges, rock outcrops, talus and rocky summits where the source does not name the rock. A named rock files the place under its own glade or outcrop type instead.

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

19CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS

Genus host records with ranges including MS · Andropogon

  • Agrotis gladiariaSwordsman Dart, Clay-Backed Cut-Worm
  • Amblyscirtes alternataDusky Roadside-Skipper, Least Florida Skipper, Dusky Little Skipper;
  • Anatrytone loganDelaware Skipper, Logan Skipper, Black-Vein Skipper
  • Atrytone arogosArogos Skipper, Beardgrass Skipper
  • Atrytone byssusByssus Skipper, Golden Skipper
  • Atrytonopsis hiannaDusted Skipper
  • Atrytonopsis loammiLoammi Skipper
  • Cercyonis pegalaCommon Wood Nymph
  • Dargida diffusaWheat Head Armywotm Moth
  • Hesperia meteaCobweb Skipper
Show all 19
  • Lacinipolia meditataThe Thinker
  • Lerema acciusClouded Skipper, Corn Leaf tier
  • Limochores origenesCrossline Skipper
  • Meropleon ambifuscaNewman's Borer, Newman's Brocade
  • Mocis texanaTexas Mocis
  • Nastra fuscaNeamathla Skipper
  • Nastra lherminierSwarthy Skipper
  • Oligoria maculataTwin-Spot Skipper
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
1BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Andropogon

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
3BirdsRecorded eating Andropogon in Mississippi

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes Mississippi, most records first.

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab)

Direct food only. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Birds that eat Andropogon 3

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Poaceae
Flower color
Not applicable

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Anatherum hirsutius; Andropogon glomeratus var. hirsutior; Andropogon virginicus var. hirsutior

Conservation status

Mississippi rankSNR
Global rankG5T5 [G5]
MS statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources