Calamagrostis rubescens
Calamagrostis lapponica
pine reed grass, pinegrass
calamagrostide de lapponie, Lapland reedgrass
(50)60-100(105) cm, unbranched, usually smooth, rarely slightly scabrous beneath the panicles;
nodes (1)2-3(4).
(12)35-50(90) cm, unbranched, smooth beneath the panicles;
nodes 1-2(3).
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.
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.
(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)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)4-4.5(5.5) mm;
rachilla prolongations 0.6-1.5(2) mm, hairs 1.2-2 mm.
(3.5)4-5(5.5) mm;
rachilla prolongations 0.4-1 mm, hairs 1.8-3 mm.
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.
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.
= 28, 42, 56.
= 28, 42-112, 140.
Calamagrostis rubescens
Calamagrostis lapponica
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 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.)
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