Grass or grass-like · Poaceae
Big bluestem
Andropogon gerardii
Big bluestem is recorded as native to 43 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,482 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Big bluestem at a glance
- Native in
- 1,482 counties, across 43 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b PLANTS minimum temperature −46°F
- Mature height
- 6 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 2b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −46°F; zone 2b winters bottom out at −45°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Big bluestem is recorded as native to 43 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,482 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,482 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 7 counties
- Arizona 4 counties
- Arkansas 44 counties
- Colorado 13 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 15 counties
- Georgia 23 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 62 counties
- Iowa 55 counties
- Kansas 98 counties
- Kentucky 52 counties
- Louisiana 34 counties
- Maine 10 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 50 counties
- Minnesota 70 counties
- Mississippi 24 counties
- Missouri 68 counties
- Montana 2 counties
- Nebraska 47 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New Mexico 21 counties
- New York 49 counties
- North Carolina 54 counties
- North Dakota 42 counties
- Ohio 60 counties
- Oklahoma 39 counties
- Pennsylvania 50 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 15 counties
- South Dakota 42 counties
- Tennessee 39 counties
- Texas 89 counties
- Utah 7 counties
- Vermont 6 counties
- Virginia 48 counties
- West Virginia 23 counties
- Wisconsin 61 counties
- Wyoming 7 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Graminoid
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Bunch
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 12 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 6 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 20 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −46°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 155
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Poaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ANGE
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Andropogon gerardii (PLANTS symbol ANGE).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources