GRASS FAMILY. 163 
36. CALAMAGROSTIS Adans. Fam. Pl. 2: 31. 1763. 
[DEYvEUxXTIA Clarion; Beauv. Agrost. 43. ~/.9. (9,70. 1812.] 
Generally perennial grasses, of various habit, with flat leaves and paniculate inflorescence, 
Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla usually prolonged beyond the flower and pubescent. 
Scales 3; the 2 outer empty, carinate, membranous; the third scale hyaline, shorter than 
the outer, obtuse, usually copiously long-hairy at the base, or rarely the hairs scanty or short, 
and bearing a straight, bent or twisted dorsal awn; palet shorter, 2-nerved. Stamens 3. 
Styles short, distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain free, enclosed in the scale. Seed adher- 
ent to the pericarp. [Greek, signifying Reed-grass. ] 
A genus of about 130 species, widely distributed throughout temperate and mountainous 
regions, and particularly numerous in the Andes. Besides the following, some 20 others occur in 
the western parts of North America. The English name Syza//-reed is applied to any of the species. 
Panicle open, the branches spreading or ascending, usually long and lax. 
Spikelets 1'’ long; outer scales acute. 1. C. Macouniana. 
Spikelets 1's'’-2"’ long; outer scaies acute; awn slender. 2. C. Canadensis. 
Spikelets 2'’-3'' long; outer scales acuminate; awn stouter. 3. C. Langsdorfit. 
Panicle narrow or contracted, the branches erect, at least in fruit, usually short and strict. 
Basal hairs one-third the length of the scale or less. 
Awn strongly twisted, inserted near the base of the scale; leaves long. 4. C. Portert. 
Awn not twisted, bent, inserted just below the middle of the scale; leaves short. 
5. C. breviseta. 
Basal hairs one-half the length of the scale or more. 
Spikelets 1'%'’-2"’ long; prolongation of the rachilla hairy its whole length. 
Leaves flat; basal hairs equalling or somewhat shorter than the scale. 6. C. confinis. 
Leaves involute in drying; basal hairs half as long as the scale. 7. C. neglecta. 
Spikelets 3/’-4'’ long; prolongation of the rachilla with a terminal tuft of hairs. 
8. C. ctnnotdes. 
1. Calamagrostis Macouniana Vasey. 
Macoun’s Reed-grass. (Fig. 372.) 
Devatiane Macountana Vasey, Coult. Bot. Gaz. 10: 297. 
PS Sse res Macouniana Vasey, Contr. U. S. Nat. 
Herb. 3:81. 1892. 
Culms 2°—3° tall, erect, simple, smooth and glabrous. 
Sheaths shorter than the internodes; ligule 1/’ long; 
leaves 3/-7’ long, 1//-234’’ wide, erect, acuminate, 
scabrous; panicle open, 3/—4 4’ in length, the branches 
ascending, or sometimes erect, the lower 1/-1 14’ long, 
naked at the base; spikelets 1’’ long, the outer scales 
acute, scabrous, the first shorter than the second; 
third scale equalling the second, the awn a little ex- 
ceeding it; basal hairs about as long as the scale. 
Manitoba and Assiniboia. Summer. 
2. Calamagrostis Canadénsis (Michx.) Beauy. Blue-joint Grass. 
Gicn373.) 
Arundo Canadensis Michx. F1. Bor. Am. 1:73. 1803. 
Calamagrostis Canadensis Beauv. Agrost. 15. 1812. 
Culms 2°-5° tall, erect, simple, smooth or somewhat 
scabrous. Sheaths shorter than the internodes; ligule 
1//-3’’ long; leaves 6/-1° long or more, 1//-4’’ wide, 
rough; panicle 4’—7’ in length, open, usually purplish, 
the branches spreading or ascending, the lower 
1%’-3/ long, naked at the base; spikelets 114//- 
2’’ long, the outer scales equal or subequal, acute, 
strongly scabrous; third scale equalling or slightly 
shorter than the second, scabrous, the awn delicate 
and equalling the copious basal hairs which are about 
as long as the scale or some of them shorter. 
In swamps and wet soil, Newfoundland to Alaska, 
south to North Carolina, New Mexico and California. 
Ascends to 5000 ft. in the Adirondacks. July—Sept. 
