Broom-sedge

Andropogon virginicus, commonly called broom-sedge or broomsedge bluestem, is a tufted, warm-season perennial grass in the Poaceae native to eastern North America and the Caribbean and widely naturalised elsewhere. It forms dense, erect clumps 0.5-1.5 m tall from a knotty crown, with flattened, light blue-green basal leaves and slender, wiry culms that turn a distinctive coppery-orange in autumn and winter, persisting through the cold months. The leaf blades are 10-40 cm long and 3-7 mm wide, with hairy basal sheaths. Flowering occurs in late summer and autumn; the inflorescence consists of short, paired racemes 2-3 cm long partially enclosed by spathe-like sheaths, with conspicuous silky-white hairs at the base of each spikelet. It is an aggressive coloniser of old fields, roadsides, burned ground, and acidic, low-fertility soils, where it often forms extensive monocultures.