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Maritime Bluestem

Anatherum tenuispatheum

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), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

51
Strong

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

Profile 53%

Height
Up to about 8 feet
Will it fit your yard?

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 6 Virginia 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

Prairies and grasslands

Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020
Barrens grassland after a prescribed fire. Shown: Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020, NPS Photo / Rick Olson, September 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Salt and brackish marshes

Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge
Brackish marsh at a woodland edge. Shown: Fort Fisher, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC0 1.0. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Core Banks dunes, June 2013
Dune grassland. Shown: Core Banks, Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Core Banks dunes, June 2013, Jarek Tuszyński, June 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source record.

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond
Regional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Seeps and springs

Weymouth Woods Gum Swamp Trail seep
Groundwater seep. Shown: Gum Swamp Trail, Weymouth Woods, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Weymouth Woods Gum Swamp Trail seep, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC BY 2.0. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

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

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 79 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

14CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · 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
  • Atrytonopsis hiannaDusted Skipper
  • Cercyonis pegalaCommon Wood Nymph
  • Dargida diffusaWheat Head Armywotm Moth
  • Hesperia meteaCobweb Skipper
  • Lacinipolia meditataThe Thinker
  • Lerema acciusClouded Skipper, Corn Leaf tier
Show all 14
  • Limochores origenesCrossline Skipper
  • Mocis texanaTexas Mocis
  • Nastra lherminierSwarthy 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
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
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

Growing and identification

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
Also known as

Anatherum tenuispatheum; Andropogon glomeratus var. pumilus

Conservation status

Virginia rankS4
Global rankG5T5 [G5]
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources