Deschampsia cespitosa (L.) P.Beauv.

  • Authority

    Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

  • Family

    Poaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Deschampsia cespitosa (L.) P.Beauv.

  • Description

    Species Description - Densely tufted perennial 3–12 dm; lvs mostly below the middle of the stem, the blades flat or folded, 1–5 mm wide, ligules often elongate to 3–12 mm; infl loose and open to narrow and contracted, the lower branches in fascicles of 2–5; spikelets purplish or silvery, 2.3–5.7 mm, the first glume 2–5.1 mm, the second 2.7–5.3 mm, acute or obtuse and often erose-tipped; rachilla prolonged one-fourth to one-half the length of the upper floret; lemmas glabrous, usually truncate and 4- toothed, the awn attached below the middle, straight or nearly so, from shorter than to barely exceeding the lemma; palea bifid, anthers 1.3–2.3 mm; 2n=24–28, 52, 56. Wet or boggy ground; circumboreal, s. to N.J., W.Va., N.C., Ill., Minn., and Ariz. A complex sp., the vars. not yet well understood.

  • Common Names

    tufted hairgrass