Flora of North America species comparison

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Calamagrostis rubescens

Calamagrostis bolanderi

pine reed grass, pinegrass

Bolander's reed grass
Habit Plants sometimes with sterile culms; sometimes loosely cespitose, usually with rhizomes 15+ cm long, 1.5-2 mm thick. Plants sometimes with sterile culms; mostly cespitose, with rhizomes to 3 cm long, 1-2 mm thick.
Culms

(50)60-100(105) cm, unbranched, usually smooth, rarely slightly scabrous beneath the panicles;

nodes (1)2-3(4).

50-150 cm, unbranched, smooth or slightly scabrous beneath the panicles;

nodes 2-4.
Sheaths

smooth or slightly scabrous;

collars often hairy, rarely glabrous;

ligules (2)3-5(6) mm, truncate to obtuse, often lacerate;

blades (6)8-40(42) cm long, (1)2-5(8) mm wide, usually flat, abaxial surfaces smooth or slightly scabrous, adaxial surfaces smooth or scabrous, glabrous or sparsely hairy.

Leaves

distributed along the culms;

sheaths and collars smooth or scabrous, glabrous;

ligules (2)3(5) mm, more or less obtuse, entire to lacerate;

blades (5)15-26(30) cm long, (2)3-7(10) mm wide, flat or involute, smooth or slightly scabrous, glabrous or sparsely hairy.
Panicles

(5)6-15(25) cm long, (0.7)1.5-2(2.7) cm wide, contracted to somewhat open, erect, usually greenish, infrequently purplish;

branches (1.2)2-4(10) cm, usually slightly scabrous, rarely densely long-scabrous, spikelet-bearing to the base.

(4)10-16(25) cm long, (2.5)4-5.5(6) cm wide, open, erect to nodding, pale green to bronze or purple;

branches (4)5.5-8(9) cm, sparsely scabrous, spreading to ascending, spikelets confined to the distal 1/4-1/2.
Spikelets

(3)4-4.5(5.5) mm;

rachilla prolongations 0.6-1.5(2) mm, hairs 1.2-2 mm.

3-4(5) mm;

rachilla prolongations 0.5-1 mm, hairs 1-1.5 mm.
Glumes

rounded to slightly keeled, mostly smooth, keels rarely slightly scabrous, lateral veins usually obscure, rarely prominent, apices acute;

callus hairs (0.5)1-1.5(2.5) mm, 0.2-0.5(0.7) times as long as the lemmas, sparse;

lemmas 2.5-3.5(4) mm, (0.5)1-2 mm shorter than the glumes;

awns 2.8-3.5(4.5) mm, usually attached to the lower 1/5 of the lemmas, rarely higher, exserted, stout and readily distinguished from the callus hairs, strongly bent;

anthers (1)1.3-2(2.6) mm.

rounded to slightly keeled, keels scabrous distally, lateral veins obscure, apices acute;

callus hairs 0.5-1 mm, 0.2-0.4 times as long as the lemmas, appearing sparse primarily because of their shortness;

lemmas 2.5-3 mm, 0-1(2) mm shorter than the glumes;

awns 3.5-5(6) mm, attached to the lower 1/10 – 1/5 of the lemmas, usually exserted, strongly bent;

anthers (1.5)2-3 mm.
2n

= 28, 42, 56.

= 56.

Calamagrostis rubescens

Calamagrostis bolanderi
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Calamagrostis rubescens grows at 50-2800 m, usually in open montane pine or aspen forests and parklands, infrequently in sagebrush steppes, chaparral, and meadows. It is primarily a species of interior western North America, although it reaches the Pacific coast in southern California. The distribution extends from central British Columbia and Alberta east to the Cypress Hills of eastern Alberta and the Pasquia and Cub hills of Saskatchewan, south to western California, Nevada, northeastern Utah, and central Colorado. It is considered threatened in Saskatchewan.

Calamagrostis rubescens is similar to C. koelerioides (p. 721). The two have traditionally been distinguished by the presence of hairs on the leaf collars of C. rubescens, and their absence from C. koelerioides; a more reliable differentiation is the shorter lemmas, glumes, and awns of C. rubescens. Calamagrostis rubescens and C. porteri (p. 721) appear to be closely related. They may be part of the general phenomenon of eastern and western vicariants.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Calamagrostis bolanderi grows in marshes, swamps, bogs, fens, seeps, moist meadows, open and closed coniferous and broadleaf forests, prairies, and coastal scrub, from sea level to 500 m. It is known only from sites near the coast in Humboldt, Mendocino, and Sonoma counties, California. It differs from C. breweri and C. muiriana in having leaves evenly distributed along the culms.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 24. FNA vol. 24, p. 719.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Calamagrostis Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Calamagrostis
Sibling taxa
C. bolanderi, C. breweri, C. cainii, C. canadensis, C. cinnoides, C. deschampsioides, C. epigejos, C. foliosa, C. howellii, C. koelerioides, C. lapponica, C. montanensis, C. muiriana, C. nutkaensis, C. ophitidis, C. perplexa, C. pickeringii, C. porteri, C. purpurascens, C. scopulorum, C. sesquiflora, C. stricta, C. tacomensis, C. tweedyi, C. ×acutiflora
C. breweri, C. cainii, C. canadensis, C. cinnoides, C. deschampsioides, C. epigejos, C. foliosa, C. howellii, C. koelerioides, C. lapponica, C. montanensis, C. muiriana, C. nutkaensis, C. ophitidis, C. perplexa, C. pickeringii, C. porteri, C. purpurascens, C. rubescens, C. scopulorum, C. sesquiflora, C. stricta, C. tacomensis, C. tweedyi, C. ×acutiflora
Name authority Buckley Thurb.
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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