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Calamagrostis purpurascens, is a perennial grass commonly known as purple reedgrass, purple pinegrass, or alpine reedgrass.
Description
Calamagrostis purpurascens is a large, clump forming, perennial grass; growing tall. It grows from short rhizomes and has dense, often purpled tinted flower heads that are 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 spikelet. Flowering stems have typically one or two leaves. 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.
Ecology
Carterocephalus palaemon (arctic skipper) butterflies eat the nectar from C. purpurascens flowers, and their caterpillars feed on the shoots. Ovis canadensis (bighorn sheep) are known to graze this grass.