Common Name: ditch reedgrass

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Graminoid

General: Native prennial often in loose clumps, with rhizomes and a narrow, nodding inflorescence.

Inflorescence: Panicles narrow, 7-16 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, typically compact, nodding, with mostly erect branches 1-5 cm long, scabrous; spikelets 4-6 mm long, 1-flowered, hairy; rachillas hairy throughout their length; glumes 4-6 mm long, keeled, mostly smooth, acute at the apex; with obscure lateral veins, callus hairs 2-3 mm long; lemmas 3-5 mm long, slightly shorter than lemmas; awns attached to the distal 2/5 of the lemmas, 1 mm long, straight.

Ecology: Found in hanging gardens, meadow communities, canyon slopes, wash bottoms, and montane and alpine habitats. Can grow on rocky, sandy, and silty soil at 3300-11,600 ft. (1000-3550 m).

Distribution: Found in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.

Notes: Differentiated from C. cinnoides by having obscure lateral veins on the glumes and hairy rachillas throughout their length, versus prominent lateral veins and rachillas hairy only distally with C. cinnoides. Also, differentiated from other species by having awns attached to the distal 2/5 of the lemmas, and short, straight awns. Can hybridize with C. purpurascens and C. canadensis.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Calamagrostis is from the Greek kalamos, meaning a reed or stalk, and agrostis, meaning grass; while scopulorum means of cliffs.

Editor: LKearsley, 2012