Index / Search / Calamagrostis rubescens

§1 Plant

Calamagrostis rubescens Buckley

vernacular pinegrass — species · Poaceae


USDA
CARU
GBIF
2704893
Rank
species
pinegrass (Calamagrostis rubescens)
Platephotograph · Matt LavinCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Calamagrostis
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 77 counties across 9 states/territories
Legend Native · 77 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-28 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
16–26 in/yr
pH range
5.5–8
Root depth
7 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
3 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Dark Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Low
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
2,646,000
Propagation
seed, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
High
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 77 counties across 9 states/territories.

California view state ↗ 18 N
Colorado view state ↗ 1 N
Idaho view state ↗ 20 N
Montana view state ↗ 2 N
Nevada view state ↗ 1 N
Oregon view state ↗ 14 N
Utah view state ↗ 3 N
Washington view state ↗ 13 N
Wyoming view state ↗ 5 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CARU ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2704893 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z