Calamagrostis lapponica
Calamagrostis cinnoides
calamagrostide de lapponie, Lapland reedgrass
Nuttall's reed grass, small reedgrass
(12)35-50(90) cm, unbranched, smooth beneath the panicles;
nodes 1-2(3).
(60) 80-140(170) cm, often solitary, unbranched, scabrous;
nodes 3-5(6).
and collars usually smooth, rarely with short hairs;
ligules (0.5)2-4(5.5) mm, usually truncate, entire;
blades (4)8-18(26) cm long, (1.5)2-3.5(4) mm wide, flat to involute, abaxial surfaces usually smooth, rarely slightly scabrous, adaxial surfaces usually smooth or scabrous, rarely sparsely hairy.
smooth or slightly scabrous;
collars smooth to densely scabrous;
ligules (2)3-4(6) mm, usually truncate, rarely obtuse, usually entire, sometimes lacerate;
blades (8)10-35(45) cm long, (3)3.5-7.5(10) mm wide, flat, pale green, smooth or slightly scabrous, adaxial surfaces glabrous or sparsely hairy.
(4)8-11(16) cm long, (0.7)1-2(2.8) cm wide, mostly erect, loosely contracted, purple;
branches (2.1)2.5-3.5(5.4) cm, smooth or slightly scabrous, sometimes spikelet-bearing to the base, sometimes only on the distal 2/3.
(8)12-20(25) cm long, (0.8)1.5-2.5(3) cm wide, erect, contracted, green to greenish purple;
branches (2.5)4-7 cm, sparsely to densely scabrous, some prickles more than 10 times the length of the others, spikelets usually confined to the distal 1/2-1/4.
(3.5)4-5(5.5) mm;
rachilla prolongations 0.4-1 mm, hairs 1.8-3 mm.
5-7(7.5) mm;
rachilla prolongations about (0.5)1(1.5) mm, hairy only distally, hairs 2-4 mm.
usually more than 3 times as long as wide, rounded to slightly keeled, usually purple for most of their length and smooth, keels rarely slightly scabrous, lateral veins obscure, apices acute to acuminate;
callus hairs (2)3-3.5(4.7) mm, (0.6)0.8-1(1.2) times as long as the lemmas, abundant;
lemmas (2.5)3-4(5) mm, 0.3-1.5 (2.3) mm shorter than the glumes;
awns 1.5-3 mm, attached to the lower 1/10 – 2/5 of the lemmas, usually not exserted, usually slender and similar to the callus hairs, sometimes stouter, straight to somewhat bent;
anthers (1.1)1.3-1.7(2) mm, usually poorly developed, sterile.
keeled, keels slightly scabrous, lateral veins prominent, apices acuminate, sometimes shortly awned;
callus hairs 3-4 mm, 0.5-0.7 times as long as the lemmas, abundant;
lemmas 4.5-5.5 mm, 1-2 mm shorter than the glumes;
awns 1-2 mm, attached on the upper 2/5 of the lemmas, not exserted, straight;
anthers about 1.5 mm.
= 28, 42-112, 140.
= unknown.
Calamagrostis lapponica
Calamagrostis cinnoides
Calamagrostis lapponica grows in northern and alpine tundra, particularly on ridgecrests and upper slopes, often with low shrubs including heathers, dwarf willows, and dwarf birch, usually on well-drained and coarse-textured (sand and gravel) soils, infrequently in meadows beside streams and lakeshores, very rarely in standing water, at 30-2300 m. It is circumboreal and circumpolar, ranging from Alaska to western Greeneland and Labrador, including the islands of the high arctic, south into the mountains of northern British Columbia and the west-central Rocky Mountains of Alberta. In Europe it extends south to about 60° N latitude, and in Asia south to North Korea.
Calamagrostis lapponica is sometimes easily confused with C. stricta (see next), but the two grow in different habitats. In addition, the glumes of C. lapponica have a smoother, more glossy appearance than those of C. stricta and are typically purple for most of their length, including the apices; the glumes of C. stricta are generally brown at the apices. A specimen from Nakat Inlet, Alaska (ALA #V116195, J. DeLapp and M. Duffy 93-339) appears to be C. lapponica, although it is in a very different habitat and at an unusually low elevation for the species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Calamagrostis cinnoides is found on roadsides, in ditches, pond edges, and boggy streamhead seepages, and along streams in oak or oak-pine woods on sandy to peaty soils, at 5-1100 m. Its range extends throughout eastern North America, from Nova Scotia and Maine to Georgia and Louisiana. It is adventive in Ohio.
Since Arundo canadensis Michx. was cited as a synonym for both Arundo cinnoides Muhl. and Calamagrostis cinnoides, both of these latter combinations are considered to be superfluous—and thus illegitimate—names, even though they differ taxonomically from A. canadensis Michx. A proposal is in preparation to conserve the name C. cinnoides over the less frequently used, but legitimate, combination C. coarctata Eaton.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
