Switchgrass-  a native, perennial, warm-season, sod-forming tall grass with vigorous roots, which reproduces from underground stems and seed.  This grass is found growing throughout the bluestem belt of the eastern and central Great Plains and on certain prairie sites in other parts of the United States.  Switchgrass is best adapted to lower areas of moist soils, but is winter-hardy and drout-resistant, thus found growing under a wide range of soils and climatic conditions.  Switchgrass is very nutritious and readily eaten by all classes of livestock, either as green forage or in prairie hay.  It is usually seeded in mixtures with bluestems, Indiangrass and sideoats grama.  Best seedling stands have been obtained where plantings were made on a clean, firm well-prepared seedbed.  Two distinct strains are recognized -- the upland and the bottomland.  The bottomland strain has a much coarser stem and is from 1 to 3 feet taller than the upland strain and is less desirable for grazing and hay.  Blackwell, a new and improved variety, yields excellent forage and shows considerable resistance to stem rust, a disease that is injurious to most native switchgrass plants.

Indiangrass - is a native, perennial, warm-season tall grass which reproduces from seed and short, scaly underground stems.  The beautiful golden plume-like seed heads, 4 to 12 inches long, are on stems from 4 to 8 feet tall.   Indiangrass is found growing throughout the bluestem belt of the United States and is one of the most important tall grasses.  It is very nutritious and readily eaten by all classes of livestock, either as green forage or dry prairie hay.  This high producing tall grass is a decreaser on bluestem ranges when continually grazed shorter than 5 to 8 inches during the growing season, and is replaced by less productive plants.   It is easily established from seed and is being planted more each year in pure stands.  The vigorous seedlings endure a wider range of extremes as regards to drouth than most lowland species.  This probably explains, in part, the habit if this grass of readily invading disturbed sites throughout the prairie.  This important tall grass responds to nitrogen fertilizer with increased seed and forage production.

Big Bluestem - is a native, warm-season, perennial, tall grass with short scaly underground stems and roots  that saturate the top two feet of soil and may reach depths up to twelve feet.  It begins growth in early April and seed stalks 3 to 8 feet tall appear from  late August to October.  The grass is sometimes called "turkey foot" bluestem because the seed head usually branches into three parts resembling a turkey's foot.  Big bluestem is found in valley bottomland sites almost to the Rocky Mountains.  It grows on most all the better soils in the true prairie belt, especially in the eastern half of Oklahoma and the Flint Hills of  Kansas.  Few, if any, of the prairie grasses can equal big bluestem in quality or quantity of  forage produced.  It is relished by livestock and usually eaten in preference to other grasses in the mixture.  If big bluestem is never grazed shorter than 6 to 8 inches during the growing season, enough green leaves are left to promote fast regrowth and the dead leaves will soon form a good protective layer of  litter on the ground.  When continually grazed closer than 6 to 8 inches during the growing season it decreases and is replaced by less productive plants.

Sideoats Grama - is a native, warm season, perennial, mid grass with short scaly underground stems. Growth begins in early April and the seed stalks which appear from July to September are from 18 to 36 inches in height. The small oatlike seeds hang down uniformly on one side of the seed stem as indicated by the name "sideoats".  Leaf blades are flat with hairs and bumps along the edges. When dry , the lower leaves of this grass are usually curled and whitish in color. Sideoats is the most widely distributed of th gama grasses and is found throughout the United States. It grows on well drained uplands, shallow ridges, and rocky areas, and is also found on soils ranging from deep to very shallow.  It produces high qualiry, nutritious, green forage that is readily eaten by all classes of livestock. Sideoats will increase and tend to replace taller grases on ranges that abused.  It will also gradually decrease if continually grazed closer thn 2 to 3 inches during the growing season. Sideoats is a good producer and can be harvested with a small grain combine. The combined seed has been sucessfully planted in pure stands and mixtures with other adopted seed on thousands of acres of formerly cultivated land. A seeding rate of 15 to 25 pounds per acre is reccomended.  The desirable seed rate depends on the quality of seed and upon the other grasses used in the mixture. Seedling vigor of sideoats is good, and failure to obtain a satisfactory stand seldom occurs if a minimum of care is used in seed bed preparation and seeding. This grass is considered excellent for conservation use and responds to nitrogen fertilizer for increased seed and forage production.

Eastern Gamma Grass -  is a native, warm-season, perennial, tall grass that grows in large clumps from 1 to 4 feet in diameter.  It spreads by thick (1/2 to 1 inch) knotty, short jointed rhizomes and produces seed from July to September on stems 3 to 9 feet tall.  This "granddad"  of the grasses is found throughout the eastern half of the United States and extends west on favorable sites to Colorado.  It grows on a variety of soils in low areas where additional run-in water and deeper soils favor its development.  This grass grows in pure stands in lowlands where it is usually bordered on one side by sloughgrass and on the other side by switchgrass.  On wet, deep prairie meadows it is associated with big bluestem.   Eastern gammagrass is palatable, nutritious and readily eaten by all classes of livestock.  Cattle particularly like this grass and it has been killed out by close grazing on most ranges.  This tall, leafy grass produces a tremendous volume of   forage and is probably our most productive hay grass.  The addition of nitrogen fertilizer will increase forage production on the good sites. 

Little Bluestem - This native grass provides nutritious grazing during the growing season and has been used for hay since the first days of settlement.   Cattle have for many years been shipped from the south to the southwest to fatten on the little bluestem ranges in the Kansas Flint Hills and the Osage Hills of Oklahoma.   Little bluestem produces 3/4 to 2 tons of forage per acre and makes good winter grazing when supplemented with protein and minerals.  When little bluestem is continually  grazed closer than 4 to 6 inches during the growing season, it is finally killed out and replaced by less productive plants.

Virginia Wild Rye & Canada Wild Rye - are  native, cool season, perennial, bunchgrass which reproduces by tillering and seed. It reaches a height of 2 to 3 feet, differing from Canada wildrye in being shorter, with seed heads, that remain straight and upright after maturity, and with much shorter awns. This winter-hardy native grass will grow in more dense shade and seems to prefer a heavier more fertile soil than Canada wildrye. On the other hand, Virginia wildrye requires more moisture for its growth , and is more frequently found in moist lowland areas. It is very palatable, nutritious and eaten by all classes of livestock. A good forage and hay producer, however, it should be harvested early since mature plants are tough and often infested with egort.  This grass decreases in rangeland that is overstocked, or over used, and must be properly managed to maintain a stand.  Virginia wildrye can be seeded in mixtures with warm-season native grasses, or in pure stands in early fall for winter pasture.  Can be harvesrted with suitable combine.