Calamagrostis rubescens
Calamagrostis pickeringii
pine reed grass, pinegrass
calamagrostide de Pickering, Pickering's reed bentgrass, Pickering's reed grass
(50)60-100(105) cm, unbranched, usually smooth, rarely slightly scabrous beneath the panicles;
nodes (1)2-3(4).
(17)25-55(90) cm, solitary or in small clusters, unbranched, sparsely scabrous;
nodes 1-3.
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 smooth;
ligules 2-3(5) mm, truncate to obtuse, entire, sometimes weakly lacerate;
blades (3)6-17(38) cm long, (2)3-4(7) mm wide, flat, stiff, abaxial surfaces smooth or scabrous, adaxial surfaces slightly scabrous, glabrous or 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.
(3.5)5-12(15) cm long, (0.5)1-2(3.5) cm wide, contracted, erect, greenish to purplish;
branches (1.5)2-3(4) cm, sparsely scabrous, usually spikelet-bearing on the distal 1/2 - 2/3, sometimes to the base.
(3)4-4.5(5.5) mm;
rachilla prolongations 0.6-1.5(2) mm, hairs 1.2-2 mm.
(2.5)3-4(4.5) mm;
rachilla prolongations 0.2-1.3(1.5) mm, sparsely bearded, hairs about 1.5 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.
keeled, usually scabrous on the keel tips, lateral veins obscure, not raised, apices acute;
callus hairs (0.3)0.5-1 mm, 0.2-0.3 times as long as the lemmas, sparse;
lemmas 2.5-3(3.5) mm, (0)0.5-1 mm shorter than the glumes;
awns 1.5-2(2.5) mm, attached to the lower 2/5 – 3/5 of the lemmas, sometimes slightly exserted, distinct from the callus hairs, bent;
anthers 1.5-2 mm.
= 28, 42, 56.
= 28.
Calamagrostis rubescens
Calamagrostis pickeringii
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 pickeringii grows in bogs, open white spruce scrub, wet meadows, coastal peatlands and lake shores, heaths, frost pockets (hollows), pitch pine barrens, and on sandy beaches, at 0-1600 m. It is found from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia south to the mountains of New Hampshire, New York, and New Jersey.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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