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Little Bluestem

Schizachyrium scoparium · Poaceae · all Schizachyrium records

Your local evidence lens

Separate evidence questions, never one approval badge

Set a ZIP to compare this record with state distribution, native range, USDA hardiness, and invasive records.

A genus split is not a placement verdict. Set a ZIP to read the local documented split.

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence: Highly flammable — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions: No test or rating condition is normalized.
Fire ecology context: No section-reviewed fire-ecology context is normalized.
Placement evidence: 3 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: Georgetown, Texas; Global; Ohio / Midwest; Yavapai County, Arizona; southern Idaho / Intermountain
Maintenance: No sourced horticultural maintenance assertion is normalized; fire-test conditions do not supply maintenance advice.

Typed publication scope: 4 scopes across 4 cited fire sources

Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database · Official scoped edition
- Southern Idaho (ID footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2013-11-08
  The official database labels itself "For Southern Idaho" and describes Idaho residents at the urban-rangeland interface. FireApproved publishes 419 existing plant owners that cite its scored rows. This bounded Southern Idaho scope is regional context, not statewide coverage or a conclusion that the score transfers unchanged to every Idaho site.
Firewise Landscaping (OSU Extension Bulletin 921) · Official scoped edition
- OH; partial normalized coverage · 2006-03-01
  Ohio State University Extension Bulletin 921 is an Ohio publication that describes Ohio fire seasons and landscape conditions and labels nativity to Ohio. FireApproved publishes 352 exact source-owning plant records from its eight rated tables. This historical publication scope does not assert current extension endorsement or that a listed plant suits every Ohio site.
Firewise Plant Guide · Official scoped edition
- Sun City Texas, Georgetown (TX footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2015-01-14
  The guide is authored for the Sun City Texas community in Georgetown. FireApproved publishes 142 exact owners only as community-level context. It is an archived HOA exhibit with unknown rating lineage, not a current statewide Texas source or an independent Tier 1 determination.
Fire-Resistant and Fire-Prone Plants Common to Yavapai County (Bulletin 34) · Official scoped edition
- Yavapai County (AZ footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2025-03-14
  University of Arizona Cooperative Extension authors Bulletin 34 for Yavapai County. FireApproved publishes 198 exact source owners from its resistant and prone tables and keeps the county boundary visible. County publication scope is regional Arizona context, never statewide scope.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution: Documented in AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY.
Native range: Current cited native range in AL, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY.
Introduced / established: 2 sourced range or established records; set a location to match them. This is not an invasive warning.
USDA hardiness: Documented minimum 4b; no upper limit is documented.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Legal-list status: Set a location for an exact legal-list result; source silence is not clearance.
Seed-list status: Set a location to compare the separate state noxious-weed seed layer.
Reported invasive here: No ecological invasive report is normalized; that does not prove noninvasiveness.
Broader regional context: Aggregate AK, HI, and L48 evidence is shown only as regional context, never as an exact-state finding.
Federal context: Federal designations remain separate from state legal-list results.

How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) — Photo: no rights reserved (CC0), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Form: grass
USDA hardiness: Minimum 4b; upper limit not documented
Mature height: ~3 ft
Water need: low
Current cited native range: AL, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY
Grows in: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE +40
Rated in: Georgetown, Texas; Global; Ohio / Midwest; Yavapai County, Arizona +1
Family: Poaceae
Evidence: 12 cited sources

Native and introduced range evidence

These are exact U.S. botanical-area records from the cited range source. Native and introduced describe biogeographic relationship, not fire performance or planting approval. Doubtful and extinct rows stay visible but do not count as current presence.

Current native

45

exact source areas

Current introduced

1

exact source area

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

45 native source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04

Alabama (AL)
Arkansas (AR)
California (CA)
Colorado (CO)
Connecticut (CT)
District of Columbia (DC)
Delaware (DE)
Florida (FL)
Georgia (GA)
Iowa (IA)
Idaho (ID)
Illinois (IL)
Indiana (IN)
Kansas (KS)
Kentucky (KY)
Louisiana (LA)
Massachusetts (MA)
Maryland (MD)
Michigan (MI)
Minnesota (MN)
Missouri (MO)
Mississippi (MS)
Montana (MT)
North Carolina (NC)
North Dakota (ND)
Nebraska (NE)
New Hampshire (NH)
New Jersey (NJ)
New Mexico (NM)
New York (NY)
Ohio (OH)
Oklahoma (OK)
Pennsylvania (PA)
Rhode I. (RI)
South Carolina (SC)
South Dakota (SD)
Tennessee (TN)
Texas (TX)
Utah (UT)
Virginia (VA)
Vermont (VT)
Washington (WA)
Wisconsin (WI)
West Virginia (WV)
Wyoming (WY)

1 introduced source area · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04

Hawaii (HI)

The lossless worldwide derivative is retained once in the research corpus; object pages repeat only exact U.S. areas needed by the local lens. The JSON twin carries the same page assertions.

Plant hardiness evidence

These values describe the plant source. Your ZIP zone comes from the separate 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Whole-zone values stay whole-zone, and a single unresolved value is not treated as a tolerance range. Different source boundaries stay separate: overlapping statements are compared independently, while only ranges with no shared zone are called a conflict.

USDA PLANTS Database — Plant Characteristics · record SCSC · PLANTS Help Document 2022; characteristics cache retrieved 2026-08-23 · as of 2026-08-26

Minimum 4b · no upper limit documented · half zone precision · derived containing band

Exact source measurement: -23°F; mapped only to its containing half-zone.

Source taxon: Schizachyrium scoparium · source identifier match.

Source location: PlantCharacteristics record 25478, Temperature, Minimum (°F).

Where its sources say to plant it

Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating. They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.

Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database: plantable at 80' from home [Idaho minimum planting distance] (with its avoid rating)
Firewise Landscaping: plant in Zone 2-3 or beyond [OSU B921 source-category siting] (with its avoid rating)
Firewise Plant Guide: Ornamental Grasses [Sun City plant-table sections] (with its avoid rating)

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Avoids (4)

Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database — Idaho Firewise (BLM + College of Western Idaho + Idaho Botanical Garden) · original source Primary evidence Field program lineage: idaho-tree

“fire-resistance score 3 of 10” · score 3 (idaho-0-10)
Firewise Landscaping (OSU Extension Bulletin 921) — Ohio State University Extension (Sydnor, Steward, Kloss / Ohio DNR Division of Forestry) · 2006 · original source Primary evidence Expert-curated lineage: ufifas-srs-tree

“H flammability”

Tolerates full sun; requires good drainage; clump forming.
Fire-Resistant and Fire-Prone Plants Common to Yavapai County (Bulletin 34) — University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County · v1.2 · original source Corroboration Expert-curated lineage: unknown

“Fire-Prone Plants”

Listed as Li le bluestem — Schizachyrium scoparium. The bulletin says fire-resistant plants tend to resist ignition when irrigated and maintained, while fire-prone plants may ignite readily and burn intensely.
Firewise Plant Guide — Sun City Texas Firewise Group · updated January 14, 2015 · original source Corroboration HOA exhibit lineage: unknown

“high”

The table rates Little Bluestem — Schizachrium scoparium high for flammability hazard, defined as the ease a plant can burn at high temperatures for a prolonged time.

Listed without a rating (8)

FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

8 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
- “flame height (cm): 70” · score 70 (FLAMITS — flame height (cm))
  
  FLAMITS record 3224; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device burning bench; site Emery2020-1; sampling january to february. Primary study Emery2020: Emery, R. K., & Hart, J. L. (2020). Flammability characteristics of surface fuels in a longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) woodland. Fire, 3, 39.
- “flaming duration (s): 51” · score 51 (FLAMITS — flaming duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 3225; Sustainability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device burning bench; site Emery2020-1; sampling january to february. Primary study Emery2020: Emery, R. K., & Hart, J. L. (2020). Flammability characteristics of surface fuels in a longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) woodland. Fire, 3, 39.
- “smouldering duration (s): 56” · score 56 (FLAMITS — smouldering duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 3226; Sustainability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device burning bench; site Emery2020-1; sampling january to february. Primary study Emery2020: Emery, R. K., & Hart, J. L. (2020). Flammability characteristics of surface fuels in a longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) woodland. Fire, 3, 39.
- “burnt biomass (%): 87.6” · score 87.6 (FLAMITS — burnt biomass (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 3227; Consumability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device burning bench; site Emery2020-1; sampling january to february. Primary study Emery2020: Emery, R. K., & Hart, J. L. (2020). Flammability characteristics of surface fuels in a longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) woodland. Fire, 3, 39.
- “energy flux (kW/m²): 19” · score 19 (FLAMITS — energy flux (kW/m²))
  
  FLAMITS record 9904; Combustibility measurement; plant part whole plant; fuel live; predrying no; device radiant panel; site Overholt2014-1; sampling ND. Primary study Overholt2014: Overholt, K., Cabrera, J., Kurzawski, A., Koopersmith, M., & Ezekoye, O. (2014). Characterization of fuel properties and fire spread rates for little bluestem grass. Fire Technology, 50, 9-38.
- “calorific value (kcal/kg): 3917.07” · score 3917.07 (FLAMITS — calorific value (kcal/kg))
  
  FLAMITS record 9905; Combustibility measurement; plant part whole plant; fuel live; predrying no; device radiant panel; site Overholt2014-1; sampling ND. Primary study Overholt2014: Overholt, K., Cabrera, J., Kurzawski, A., Koopersmith, M., & Ezekoye, O. (2014). Characterization of fuel properties and fire spread rates for little bluestem grass. Fire Technology, 50, 9-38.
- “calorific value (kcal/kg): 4213.67578” · score 4213.67578 (FLAMITS — calorific value (kcal/kg))
  
  FLAMITS record 17999; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device flat flame burner; site Safdari2018-1; sampling ND. Primary study Safdari2018: Safdari, M.-S., Rahmati, M., Amini, E., Howarth, J. E., Berryhill, J. P., Dietenberger, M., Fletcher, T. H. (2018). Characterization of pyrolysis products from fast pyrolysis of live and dead vegetation native to the Southern United States. Fuel, 229, 151166.
- “calorific value (kcal/kg): 4562.62454” · score 4562.62454 (FLAMITS — calorific value (kcal/kg))
  
  FLAMITS record 18013; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device flat flame burner; site Safdari2018-1; sampling ND. Primary study Safdari2018: Safdari, M.-S., Rahmati, M., Amini, E., Howarth, J. E., Berryhill, J. P., Dietenberger, M., Fletcher, T. H. (2018). Characterization of pyrolysis products from fast pyrolysis of live and dead vegetation native to the Southern United States. Fuel, 229, 151166.

Fire-resistant grasss instead

Fox sedge
Carex vulpinoidea

Fescue, Tall
Festuca arundinacea

Tall fescue
Lolium arundinaceum

Green bulrush
Scirpus atrovirens

Woolgrass bulrush
Scirpus cyperinus

Cord Grass
Spartina pectinata

Fire-resistant grasss listed above

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · ITIS

Schizachyrium scoparium (Little Bluestem). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/schizachyrium-scoparium/. Last verified 2026-08-23.