Thursday, January 16, 2025

January 16, 2025

This grass used to be called Bushy Bluestem
But scientists have broken it down into many species
The issue is that they retained the same name
Which makes it harder to learn and teach these.

Location: Kissimmee Prairie State Park Preserve

Photo originally taken: October 20, 2018

Explanation: I originally ID'd this as a Bushy Bluestem (Andropogon glomeratus) but it was renamed to Bushy Bluestem Species Complex (Complex Andropogon glomeratus) after a taxon change on July 27, 2022 that split the genus into multiple levels. On researching this, the confusing part is that the Complex retained the same name of Andropogon glomeratus.

Sources: https://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/G104/lectures/104taxon.html
https://storyneedle.com/lumping-and-splitting-in-taxonomy
https://www.iaptglobal.org/icn
https://ab.pensoft.net/article/38075/

Photo and text © 2025 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

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