Schizachyrium sanguineum(Retz.) Alston

crimson bluestem

WFO wfo-0000898173 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Schizachyrium sanguineum, photographed by Jimmy Whatmore
fig. a Jimmy Whatmore, CC0 1.0 / 2019-02-11 / obs. 39690205

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
1813609
Filed as
Schizachyrium sanguineum (Retz.) Alston
Det. by
C. A. D. Welker 2013-06-01
Collected
not recorded
Origin
not recorded
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 96 botanical countries

Regions where Schizachyrium sanguineum is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Senegal, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Tibet, Andaman Is., Assam, India, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mexican Pacific Is., Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, New Mexico, Texas, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Chile Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela AngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaCameroonCape ProvincesCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEswatiniEthiopiaGabonGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarMaliMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesSenegalSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanTibetAssamIndiaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMyanmarNew GuineaPhilippinesSri LankaSumateraThailandVietnamAlabamaArizonaFloridaGeorgiaMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestNew MexicoTexasArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralChile CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela Andaman Is.BahamasLeeward Is.
Native distribution of Schizachyrium sanguineum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Mali MLI
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Senegal SEN
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Bahamas BAH
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Chile Central CLC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
India IND
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Mexican Pacific Is. MXI
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
New Mexico NWM
Texas TEX
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Tibet CHT

Not drawn on the map: Mexican Pacific Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 144 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 1.9 °C 12.1 °C 22.9 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 24.9 °C 29.6 °C 32.0 °C
Annual rainfall 506 mm 1,339 mm 3,021 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 15 mm 136 mm 260 mm

It is found where winters are cool but frost is light or absent. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 144 research-grade observations of Schizachyrium sanguineum that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 78 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Andropogon acuminatus Swallen
  • Andropogon caespitosus Phil.
  • Andropogon domingensis (Spreng. ex Schult.) F.T.Hubb.
  • Andropogon feensis E.Fourn.
  • Andropogon flavescens J.Presl
  • Andropogon hirtiflorus (Nees) Kunth
  • Andropogon hirtiflorus var. brevipedicellatus Beal
  • Andropogon hirtiflorus var. feensis (E.Fourn.) Hack.
  • Andropogon hirtiflorus var. genuinus Hack.
  • Andropogon hirtiflorus var. gracilis Rendle
  • Andropogon hirtiflorus var. hirtiflorus
  • Andropogon hirtiflorus var. oligostachyus (Chapm.) Hack.
  • Andropogon hirtiflorus var. semiberbis (Nees) Stapf
  • Andropogon leptostachyus Benth.
  • Andropogon lumeneensis Vanderyst
  • Andropogon myosurus J.Presl
  • Andropogon myosurus var. feensis (E.Fourn.) Urbina
  • Andropogon oligostachyus Chapm.
  • Andropogon pseudograya Steud.
  • Andropogon riedelii Trin.
  • Andropogon riedelii var. genuinus Hack.
  • Andropogon riedelii var. multirameus Hack.
  • Andropogon sanguineus (Retz.) Merr.
  • Andropogon sanguineus var. brevipedicellatus (Beal) Y.Herrera

and 54 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.