Calamagrostis purpurascens
Calamagrostis purpurascens, is a perennial grass commonly known as purple reedgrass, purple pinegrass, or alpine reedgrass.[26] It grows 30 to 80 centimetres (31 in) tall.[27]
Calamagrostis purpurascens | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Pooideae |
Genus: | Calamagrostis |
Species: | C. purpurascens |
Binomial name | |
Calamagrostis purpurascens | |
Synonyms | |
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Description
Calamagrostis purpurascens is a large, clump forming, perennial grass; growing 30-80 cm (12-31 in.) tall. It grows from short rhizomes and has dense, often purpled tinted flower heads that are 4 to 13 cm (1.6 to 5.1 in.) long. It has one flowered spikelets, two subequal glumes, and lemma with a dorsal awn. The awn is longer than the glum and sharply bent, and longer than the tip of the spiklet. Flowering stems have typically one or two leaves.[28]
Distribution
Calamagrostis purpurascens is native from arctic Greenland, to much of Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Yukon Territory) and the western and northern U.S. (Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming).[4] It is rare and scattered in the southern U.S. states, such as Louisiana, where it is a post-glacial relict.
Further south, C. purpurascens is also known in Chile, where it was recorded by Rodolfo Amando Philippi in 1860. Philippi gave it the name Deyeuxia robusta, now relegated to synonymy.[24]
Habitat
Calamagrostis purpurascens grows in dry mountainous zones, from high up on the foothills to close to the snow-line, often taking root in gaps in the talus, where few other plants can grow.[27] It is an arctic-alpine species with disjunct boreal populations in eastern North America.[28] In Minnesota it is an endangered species found growing in the north eastern part of the state in the coniferous region in Cook county where it is found on tall north facing cliffs composed of slate and diabase; these locations are cool, moist, and lack heavy competition from other plant species.[28][29]
Ecology
Carterocephalus palaemon (arctic skipper) butterflies eat the nectar from C. purpurascens flowers, and their caterpillars feed on the shoots.[30] Ovis canadensis (bighorn sheep) are known to graze this grass.[26]
References
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- C. purpurascens was first described and published in Botanical Appendix to Captain Franklin's Narrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea (Richardson) 731. 1823. "Name - Calamagrostis purpurascens R.Br". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
Locality: Canada: barren grounds from Point Lake to the Arctic Sea
- "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis purpurascens". IPNI. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
- "Name-Calamagrostis purpurascens R.Br. synonyms". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
- "Profile for Calamagrostis purpurascens var. purpurascens (purple reedgrass)". PLANTS Database. USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
- S. G. Aiken; L. L. Consaul; M. J. Dallwitz. (December 10, 2001). "Calamagrostis purpurascens R.Br". Poaceae of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
- Arundo purpurascens was published in Mantissa in Volumen Tertium. ... (Schultes & Schultes f.) 603. 1827. "Plant Name Details for Arundo purpurascens". IPNI. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
- C. arctica was published in Grasses of the Southwest. Plates and Descriptions of the Grasses of the Desert Region of Western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Southern California, 2, pt. 2: no. 55. 1892. Washington, DC. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis arctica". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
Distribution: Alaska (St. Paul Island)
- C. arundinacea f. purpurascens was published in Flora Arctica Containing a Description of the Flowering Plants and Ferns, found in the Arctic Regions ... 1: 103. 1902. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis arundinacea f. purpurascens". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- C. arundinacea var. purpurascens was published in Meddelelser om Gronland, af Kommissionen for Ledelsen af de Geologiske og Geografiske Undersogelser i Gronland, 47: 261. 1910. Copenehagen. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis arundinacea var. purpurascens". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- C. caespitosa was published in Botanicheskie Materialy Gerbariya Botanicheskogo Instituta Imeni V. L. Komarova Akademii Nauk S. S. S. R. Leningrad, 13: 54. 1950. Leningrad. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis caespitosa". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- C. lepageana was published in Rhodora; Journal of the New England Botanical Club, 46: 303, tab. 837. 1944. Cambridge, MA. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis lepageana". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
Distribution: Quebec
- C. maltei was published in Botaniska Notiser, no. 128: 503. 1976. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis maltei". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- C. purpurascens subsp. maltei was published in Publications in Botany, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Canada, no. 4: 5. 1975. Ottawa. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis purpurascens subsp. maltei". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- C. purpurascens var. arctica was published in Bulletin, Division of Agrostology United States Department of Agriculture, 11: 19. 1898. "Name-Calamagrostis purpurascens var. arctica (Vasey) Kearney". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- C. purpurascens var. maltei was published in National Museum of Canada Bulletin, 92: 51. 1940. Ottawa. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis purpurascens var. maltei". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
Distribution: Baffin Island, Canada
- C. purpurascens var. ophitidis was published in Leaflets of Western Botany, 4: 246. 1946. San Francisco. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis purpurascens var. ophitidis". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
Distribution: California (Southwestern U.S.A., Northern America)
- C. purpurascens var. vaseyi was published in Contributions to Western Botany (Marcus E. Jones), 14: 9. 1912. San Francisco. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis purpurascens var. vaseyi". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- C. sylvatica var. americana was published in Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. Smithsonian Institution 3: 83. 1892. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis sylvatica var. americana". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
Distribution: British America and western United States
- C. sylvatica var. purpurascens was published in Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. Smithsonian Institution, 3(1): 83. 1892. "Name-Calamagrostis sylvatica var. purpurascens Thurb. ex Vasey". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- C. vaseyi was published in Grasses of North America. For Farmers and Students. ... 2: 344. 1896. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis vaseyi". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
Locality: "Cascade Mts."; Collector: G. R. Vasey s.n.
- C. wiluica was published in Flora Iakutiae 1: 193, f 63. 1930. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis wiluica". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- C. yukonensis was published in Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden 2: 154. 1901. "Plant Name Details for Calamagrostis yukonensis". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
Distribution: Alaska (Subarctic America, Northern America)
- Deschampsia congestiformis was published in Rhodora; Journal of the New England Botanical Club, 45: 414. 1943. Cambridge, MA. "Plant Name Details for Deschampsia congestiformis". IPNI. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
Distribution: Montana (Northwestern U.S.A., Northern America)
- Deyeuxia robusta was published in Florula Atacamensis seu Enumeriatio ... 54. 1860. "Name-Deyeuxia robusta Phil". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
Locality: Chile: Vallem Zorras
- Trisetum sesquiflorum was published in Mémoires de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg. Sixième Série. Sciences Mathématiques, Physiques et Naturelles. Seconde Partie: Sciences Naturelles 4,2(1): 14. 1836. "Name-Trisetum sesquiflorum Trin". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
Locality: Unalashka
- Tesky, Julie L. (1992). "Calamagrostis purpurascens". Fire Effects Information System (online). Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer): U.S.D.A; Forest Service. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
- Heather Stewart; Richard Hebda. "Grasses of the Columbia Basin of British Columbia". Living Landscapes. Royal British Columbia Museum. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- Barbara Coffin; Lee Pfannmuller (1988). Minnesota's Endangered Flora and Fauna. U of Minnesota Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-8166-1689-3.
- "Calamagrostis purpurascens : Purple Reedgrass | Rare Species Guide". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
- Wildflower Center Staff (January 1, 2007). "Calamagrostis purpurascens (Purple reedgrass)". Native Plant Information Network. Austin, Texas: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Retrieved August 16, 2010.