Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Liliopsida -- monocots

Family: Poaceae -- grass

Common Name: pinegrass

Species Code: CARU

Origin: Native and common in mesic open grasslands and forests of western North America from British Columbia south to California and east to Alberta and Colorado.

Rare: no

Form: grass, 0.5-1 m tall, from creeping rhizomes; culms slender and hollow, usually with reddish bases.

Duration: perennial

Habitat Type: prairie, forest

Wetland Indicator Status: not listed

Leaves: mostly basal, blades 2-4mm broad, flat, lax, usually scabrous on upper surface and smooth on lower surface, collar puberulent or hairy-tufted; sheaths open; auricles lacking; ligules ciliolate, 1-5mm long, with erose margins.

Mature height: 20-40 inches

Flowers: inflorescence a narrow panicle, 8-17 cm long, pale green or rarely purple; spikelets with a single floret, 3-5 mm long; lemma 3-4 mm long, 4-toothed, with a geniculate awn from near the base, 3.5-4.5 mm long; glumes long-pointed, 4-5 mm long, smooth to somewhat hairy.

Flower color: inconspicuous

Bloom: June

Fruit: caryopsis

Characteristics:
Reproduces sexually by seed and vegetatively by rhizomes. Seed production is generally low.
2,646,000 seeds/lb (Hassell et al 1996).
2n=28, 42, 56 (Hitchcock et al 1969, Baldwin et al 2004).
Wind pollinated.
Apomixis occurs in the genus (Baldwin et al 2004).
Flowers are perfect.
Polyploidy is present.
Native peoples used the grass to line baskets and cooking pits and to make insoles for moccasins (Moerman 2003).
Fair quality as a forage grass (Roche & Roche 1991).
Especially sensitive to grazing in mid-summer (Stout et al 1980). Frequent close grazing decreases plant vigor, but plants can withstand frequent grazing without loss of vigor if at least 15 cm of stubble is left (Stout et al 1981).
Rocky Mountain elk use the plants year around. It is especially valuable forage in spring and summer (Kufeld 1973).
Considered poor to fair forage for livestock and game animals (Stubbendieck et al 1997).
Bromus and Calamagrostis species are hosts for the larva of the arctic skipper butterfly (Carterocephalus palaemon). Many grasses are hosts for the larva of the common wood nymph (Cercyonis pegala) and the common ringlet (Coenonympha californica) butterflies (Pocewicz 2005).

Sun requirement: full to partial sun

Soil moisture: mesic

Precipitation: 16-26 inches (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2009).

Fire: Regrows from rhizomes after moderate intensity fires. Fire promotes flowering and seed production and stands are at preburn levels within 1-2 years after fire (Matthews 2000, Patterson et al 1985). Calamagrostis rubescens is moderately resistant to fire because the roots and rhizomes are deep enough below mineral soil to afford them some protection (McLean 1969).

Sowing time: spring

Transplant time: spring

Stratification: none required.

Seed yield: low

Planting duration: no information available

Seed size: very small

Seed harvest date: no information available

Seed comments: probably can be propagated from rhizomes.

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Propagation:
1 protocol in the Native Plant Network
seeds, Glacier National Park, MT

Other Propagation Information:
38% germination without pretreatment (McLean 1967).
Seeds do not need pretreatment and do not persist in the seed bank (Matthews 2000).
Reproduces sexually by seed and vegetatively by rhizomes. Seed production is generally low.

References:
Baldwin, B.G., S. Boyd, B.J. Ertter, D.J. Keil, R.W. Patterson, T.J. Rosatti, and D.H. Wilken (eds). 2004. Jepson Online Interchange for California Floristics. University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, CA. Accessed 7/26/09 online at http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange.html

Hassell, Wendell, W. Rocky Beavers, Steve Ouellette, and Thomas Mitchell. 1996. Seeding Rate Statistics for Native and Introduced Species. US Dept of Interior and USDA, NRCS. Denver, CO.

Hitchcock, C. Leo, Arthur Cronquist, Marion Ownbey, and J.W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press. Seattle, WA. 5 vol.

Kufeld, Roland. 1973. Foods Eaten by the Rocky Mountain Elk. Journal of Range Management 26:106-113.

Matthews, Robin F. 2000. Calamagrostis rubescens. In: Fire Effects Information System. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ accessed 5/24/06.

McLean, Alastair. 1967. Germination of Forest Range Species from British Columbia. Journal of Range Management. 20:321-322.

McLean, Alastair. 1969. Fire Resistance of Forest Species as Influenced by Root Systems. Journal of Range Management 22:120-122.

Moerman, Dan. 2003. Native American Ethnobotany: a Database of Foods, Drugs, Dyes and Fibers of Native American Peoples, Derived from Plants. University of Michigan-Dearborn. Online at http://herb.umd.umich.edu/ Accessed 7/24/09.

Patterson, Patricia A, Kenneth E. Neiman, and Jonalea R. Tonn. 1985. Field Guide to Forest Plants of Northern Idaho. USDA Forest Service Intermountain Research Station. General Technical Report INT-180. Ogden, Utah.

Pocewicz, Amy. 2005. Host Plants of Palouse Butterfly Species. 2 page handout to accompany the April 2005 presentation to the Palouse Prairie Foundation.

Roche, Ben F., Jr. and Cindy Talbott Roche. 1991. Eastern Washington Range Plants. Extension Bulletin 1302, Washington State University Coop. Extension Service, Pullman WA. 66 pp.

Stout, Darryl G., A. McLean, B. Brooke, and J. Hall. 1980. Influence of Simulated Grazing (Clipping) on Pinegrass Growth. Journal of Range Management. 33:286-291.

Stout, Darryl G., J. Hall, B. Brooke, and A. McLean. 1981. Influence of Successive Years of Simulated Grazing (Clipping) on Pinegrass Growth. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 61:939-943.

Stubbendieck, James, Stephan L. Hatch, and Charles H. Butterfield. 1997. North American Range Plants. 5th edition. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE. 501 pp.

Svejcar, Tony. 1986. Comparative Water Relations of Carex geyeri and Calamagrostis rubescens. Botanical Gazette 147:71-77.

USDA NRCS. 2009. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 26 July 2009). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species account from the Fire Effects Information System
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium