Calamagrostis lapponica
Calamagrostis deschampsioides
calamagrostide de lapponie, Lapland reedgrass
calamagrostide fausse-deschampsie, circumpolar reedgrass
(12)35-50(90) cm, unbranched, smooth beneath the panicles;
nodes 1-2(3).
(10)15-45(60) cm, unbranched, smooth beneath the panicles;
nodes 1-2.
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.
and collars smooth;
ligules (0.5)1-2.5(3) mm, truncate to obtuse, usually entire, sometimes lacerate;
blades (2)3-8(15) cm long, (1)1.5-2.5(3) mm wide, flat or somewhat involute, abaxial surfaces smooth, adaxial surfaces smooth or slightly scabrous, 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.
3-10(12) cm long, 1-4.5 cm wide, pyramidal, open, erect, green to dark purple: branches (2)2.5-4(5.5) cm, spreading, smooth or sparsely scabrous, spikelets usually confined to the distal 1/2.
(3.5)4-5(5.5) mm;
rachilla prolongations 0.4-1 mm, hairs 1.8-3 mm.
4-5.5(7) mm;
rachilla prolongations 1-2 mm, hairs (0.5)1-1.5 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.
rounded, usually smooth, sometimes scabrous along the midvein, lateral veins mostly obscure, apices acute to acuminate;
callus hairs 2-3 mm, 0.4-0.7 times as long as the lemmas, abundant;
lemmas 3.5^1.5(5.5) mm, 0.5-1(1.5) mm shorter than the glumes;
awns 3-4.5(5.5) mm, attached to the lower 1/3-1/2 of the lemmas, usually exserted, rarely included within the glumes, slender but distinguishable from the callus hairs, weakly to strongly bent;
anthers (1.5)2-2.5 mm.
= 28, 42-112, 140.
= 28.
Calamagrostis lapponica
Calamagrostis deschampsioides
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 deschampsioides is a halophyte that grows, in the Flora region, on coastal dunes and beach ridges, gravel beaches, and in brackish coastal marshes, sometimes with Carex lyngbyei, at or near sea level. Its distribution is circumboreal, extending in North America from the islands of the Bering Sea and coastal Alaska, including the panhandle as far south as 56° N latitude, across the arctic coast to Hudson Bay and northern Labrador. It also extends from the arctic coast of Europe to Siberia and Japan. The alpine habitat reported for the Japanese plants suggests that they might belong to a different taxon.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
