Maritime Bluestem
Andropogon tenuispatheus
Found in prairies and grasslands; salt and brackish marshes; Coastal dunes and beaches; ponds, lakes and their shores; seeps and springs; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Mississippi (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 53%
- Height
- Up to about 8 feet
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Spread · Light · Soil · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 20 Mississippi counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
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
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
4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Andropogon
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Ammospiza leconteiiLeConte's Sparrow
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. 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
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
- Flower color
- White or brown
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “White or brown” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 8 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Also known as
Anatherum tenuispatheum; Andropogon glomeratus var. pumilus
Conservation status
| Mississippi rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5T5 [G5] |
| MS status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Mississippi occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications