Calamagrostis purpurascens

R. Br.
Common names: Purple reedgrass Calamagrostide pourpre
Synonyms: Calamagrostis purpurascens var. laricina Calamagrostis poluninii Calamagrostis lepageana Calamagrostis laricina Calamagrostis arundinacea var. purpurascens
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 24. Treatment on page 710.
Revision as of 01:36, 30 July 2020 by imported>Volume Importer
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Plants apparently without sterile culms; strongly cespitose, often with rhizomes 1-4 cm long, 1-2 mm thick. Culms (10) 30-80 cm, usually unbranched, occasionally branched, usually slightly to strongly scabrous, sometimes puberulent beneath the panicles; nodes (1) 2 (3). Sheaths scabrous; collars usually scabrous or hairy, rarely smooth; ligules (1.5) 2-4 (9) mm, usually truncate and entire, sometimes lacerate. Blades (4) 5-17 (30) cm long, 2-5 (6) mm wide, flat or involute, stiff, abaxial surfaces scabrous, adaxial surfaces usually densely long-hairy, rarely sparsely hairy. Panicles 4-13 (15) cm long, 0.9-2 (2.8) cm wide, erect, contracted, infrequently interrupted near the base, often red or purple-tinged; branches 1.3-3.5 cm, scabrous, prickles long, almost hairlike, spikelet-bearing to the base. Spikelets (4.5) 5.5-6.5 (8) mm; rachilla prolongations about (1) 2 mm, hairs about 2 mm. Glumes keeled, usually scabrous, rarely scabrous on the keels only, lateral-veins obscure to prominent, apices acute; callus hairs (0.9) 1.2-1.5 (2.4) mm, 0.2-0.4 (0.6) times as long as the lemmas, sparse; lemmas (3.5) 4-4.5 (5) mm, usually 1-2.5 mm shorter than, rarely equal to, the glumes; awns (4.5) 6-7 (9) mm, attached to the lower 1/10-1/3 of the lemmas, usually exserted, stout, easily distinguished from the callus hairs, bent; anthers (1.3) 1.7-2.5 (2.9) mm. 2n = 42-58, 84.

Distribution

Colo., N.Mex., Wash., Utah, Alaska, Minn., Idaho, Mont., Nev., S.Dak., Wyo., Alta., B.C., Greenland, Man., Nfld. and Labr. (Labr.), N.W.T., Nunavut, Ont., Que., Sask., Yukon, Calif., Oreg.

Discussion

Calamagrostis purpurascens grows in alpine tundra, on subalpine slopes, in grasslands, sand dunes, meadows, coniferous and deciduous forests, and disturbed soils, usually on rocky ridgetops and slopes and, infrequently, on valley floors. It prefers well- to moderately-drained, medium- to coarse-textured substrates, including scree and talus, that are often calcareous, at elevations from 15-4000 m. Its range extends from Alaska through Canada to Greenland and Newfoundland, including the islands of the Canadian arctic, and south in the western mountains to California and northern New Mexico. It does not occur near the open coast except in the Aleutian Islands, the Arctic, and the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. In Asia, it ranges from eastern and central arctic Siberia south to the Kamchatka Peninsula and Sakhalin Island.

The hairy adaxial leaf surfaces are a reliable diagnostic characteristic for Calamagrostis purpur¬ascens. Many specimens from Washington and Oregon currently identified as C. purpurascens belong to C. tacomensis (p. 716). In addition to differing in its leaf vestiture, C. purpurascens has shorter awns and panicle branches, and more scabrous glumes, than C. tacomensis. Plants of C. purpurascens that have short awns barely projecting beyond the lemma margins have been mistaken for C. montanensis (p. 724), but that species does not have hairy adaxial leaf surfaces.

Calamagrostis purpurascens var. laricina Louis-Marie supposedly has shorter glumes and awns, with the awns barely exserted, if at all. The variety is not recognized here because the range in variation in these two characters is continuous; plants that match the description of var. laricina are widely distributed throughout the range of the species. Some collections having both short and long awns are on the same sheet.

Calamagrostis lepageana Louis-Marie, collected only from Mont-Commis, Quebec, is here included within C. purpurascens. It differs from the typical form in that the panicle is more open; the branches are sparsely short-scabrous; and the glumes are at the shortest limit for the species, and are smooth or sparsely scabrous only on the keels. Other characteristics, including the densely hairy adaxial leaf surfaces, fit C. purpurascens.

According to Norwegian botanist Reidar Elven (pers. comm.), five specimens at ALA, collected from four sites on the Seward Peninsula in Alaska, are distinct from Calamagrostis purpurascens but are related to it, or are possibly a hybrid between C. purpurascens and C. sesquiflora (p. 714). They differ from typical C. purpurascens in having bristly (versus hairy) upper leaf surfaces, and acuminate, dark purple (versus acute, pale pink or lilac) glumes. They can be called C. purpurascens subsp. arctica (Vasey) Hulten; in eastern Russia this taxon is recognized at the species level as C. arctica Vasey.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"decumbent" is not a number.

84 +, 42 +  and 58 +
membranous +  and scarious +
hairy +  and long-hairy +
1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br /> (?) +
0.17 cm1.7 mm <br />0.0017 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
Kendrick L. Marr +, Richard J. Hebda +  and Craig W. Greenef +
R. Br. +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
4.5 cm45 mm <br />0.045 m <br /> (?) +
straight +
attached +
exserted +  and lower +
distinguished +
1/10 +  and 1/3 +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (17 cm170 mm <br />0.17 m <br />) +
not evident +
involute +  and flat +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
appressed;more or less drooping +
spikelike +
1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br /> (3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br />) +
0.2-0.4(0.6) times as long as the lemmas +
0.12 cm1.2 mm <br />0.0012 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
hairy +  and scabrous +
Purple reedgrass +  and Calamagrostide pourpre +
branched +  and unbranched +
ascending +  and erect +
puberulent +
30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br /> (80 cm800 mm <br />0.8 m <br />) +
not woody +
Colo. +, N.Mex. +, Wash. +, Utah +, Alaska +, Minn. +, Idaho +, Mont. +, Nev. +, S.Dak. +, Wyo. +, Alta. +, B.C. +, Greenland +, Man. +, Nfld. and Labr. (Labr.) +, N.W.T. +, Nunavut +, Ont. +, Que. +, Sask. +, Yukon +, Calif. +  and Oreg. +
1/4 +  and 1/3 +
liquid +, soft +  and hard +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
sometimes longer +
sterile +  and bisexual +
compressed +
reduced +
subtending +
subequal +
membranous +
sparse +  and abundant +
uncinate +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (?) +
obscure +  and prominent +
lanceolate +  and ovate +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
lacerate +, entire +, acute +, usually truncate +  and obtuse +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
lanceolate +
3 (?) +  and 1 (?) +
concealed +  and prominent +
2 +  and 1 +
hairy +  and glabrous +
2-keeled +
purple-tinged +  and red +
4cm +  and 13cm +
spikelike +
0.9 cm9 mm <br />0.009 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
dry +  and fleshy +
1 +  and 60 +
compressed +
0.55 cm5.5 mm <br />0.0055 m <br /> (0.65 cm6.5 mm <br />0.0065 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
simple +  and compound +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
Calamagrostis purpurascens var. laricina +, Calamagrostis poluninii +, Calamagrostis lepageana +, Calamagrostis laricina +  and Calamagrostis arundinacea var. purpurascens +
Calamagrostis purpurascens +
Calamagrostis +
species +
membranous +
parallel +  and converging +
obscure +  and prominent +
plant +  and cespitose +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +