Purple Reedgrass

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Purple Reed Grass
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Poales Family: Poaceae Genus: Calamagrostis Species: C. purpurascens
Binomial name
Calamagrostis purpurascens R.Br.
Synonyms
Calamagrostis lepageana Louis-Marie Calamagrostis maltei (Polunin) A. & D. Löve Calamagrostis purpurascens ssp. maltei (Polunin) Porsild Calamagrostis purpurascens var. maltei Polunin Calamagrostis yukonensis Nash.

Purple Reedgrass (Calamagrostis purpurascens) is a perennial grass native to most of North America, from arctic Greenland, Canada, and Alaska south to California and Louisiana (though rare and scattered in the southern states of the USA where it is a post-glacial relict), and also in Asia in eastern Siberia. It grows 30 to 70 cm tall.

The caterpillars of some Lepidoptera use it as a foodplant, e.g. the Chequered Skipper (Carterocephalus palaemon).

[edit] External links

• Poaceae of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Calamagrostis purpurascens
• Calamagrostis page from www.livinglandscapes.bc.ca