Calamagrostis cainii Hitchc.:
United States (North America)

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: Known from Mount LeConte, Tennessee. Discovered on Craggy Pinnacle, North Carolina in 1989 and Mount Craig, North Carolina in 1990 (Wiser 1991).

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly basal, below middle of stem, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades very narrow or filiform, less than 2 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades scabrous, rou ghened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence an open panicle, openly paniculate, branches spreading, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence lax, widely spreading, branches drooping, pendulous, Inflorescence curved, twisted or nodding, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Lower panicle branches whorled, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Spikelets disarticulating beneath or between the florets, Rachilla or pedicel hairy, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glumes keeled or winged, G lumes 1 nerved, Glumes 3 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex dentate, 3-5 fid, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn less than 1 cm long, Lemma awn subapical or dorsal, Lemma awn twisted, spirally coiled at base, like a corkscrew, Lemma awn once geniculate, bent once, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Callus or base of lemma evidently hairy, Callus hairs shorter than lemma, Callus hairs equal to lemma, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea shorter than lemma, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

Holotype for Calamagrostis cainii Hitchc.
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany
Verification Degree: Card file verified by examination of alleged type specimen
Preparation: Pressed specimen
Collector(s): S. Cain
Year Collected: 1929
Locality: Heath Bald, top of Mt. Leconte, Smokey Mts., Sevier, Tennessee, United States, North America
Elevation (m): 1981 to 1981

Comments: High elevation open areas such as rocky summits and disturbed areas where landslides have occurred. 4000 to 6500 feet.

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 1 - 5

Comments: Two populations in Tennessee and two populations in North Carolina (Godt et al. 1996).

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N1 - Critically Imperiled

Rounded Global Status Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled

Reasons: Endemic to the southern Appalachians and known from only three mountains near the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Trampling is a threat.

Comments: The extremely limited distribution of this species makes it especially vulnerable to human disturbance such as trampling (Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project 2002). Some of the areas where Calamagrostis cainii occurs have a high mortality of fraser fir and disturbance/erosion where old stumps washed away; it is unclear if this is beneficial or detrimental to Calamagrostis cainii.

Stewardship Overview: Prevent trampling by routing trails away from plants and educating recreational users. Investigate the impact fraser fir mortality has on this species and if there are steps that can be taken to reduce negative effects.