Calamagrostis stricta
Ecology
A tufted rhizomatous perennial herb of near-neutral mires and lake margins. 0-340 m (Kingside Loch, Selkirks.).
Status
Trends
It is hard to assess trends in the distribution of C. stricta as it has been confused in the past with C. scotica, C. purpurea and hybrids of C. canescens (including C. canescens x C. stricta). It has certainly been lost from some sites through drainage, but is easily overlooked and may still be present in several squares for which only pre-1987 records are available.
World Distribution
Circumpolar Boreo-arctic Montane element.
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Broad Habitats
Light (Ellenberg): 9
Moisture (Ellenberg): 9
Reaction (Ellenberg): 4
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 2
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 0
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 2.9
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 14.2
Annual Precipitation (mm): 928
Height (cm): 100
Perennation - primary
Life Form - primary
Woodiness
Clonality - primary
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 22
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 6
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 0
Atlas Change Index: -0.74
JNCC Designations
RDB Species Accounts
Calamagrostis stricta (Timm) Koeler (Poaceae)
Narrow small-reed, Cuilc-fheur Beag, Mawnwellt Cal
Status in Britain: LOWER RISK - Near Threatened.
Status in Europe: Not threatened.
C. stricta is a plant of near-neutral bogs and marshes, and the margins of lakes. At a site near Dalmellington it grows with Deschampsia cespitosa, Filipendula ulmaria, Juncus effusus and Phalaris arundinacea. In Yorkshire it is found as an emergent at the edge of the Leven Canal, and in Cheshire, in abundance around the margins of Oak Mere. It is primarily a lowland species, but ascends to 340 metres in Kingside Loch, Selkirkshire.
C. stricta is a tufted perennial, with slender creeping rhizomes. It flowers from June to August, but little is known of its reproductive biology.
It is difficult to assess trends in the distribution of C. stricta as it has previously been confused with C. scotica, C. purpurea and hybrids with C. canescens (including C. x gracilescens), and perhaps with other species. It has certainly been lost from some sites through drainage, but may still be extant in some of the localities for which only a pre-1987 record is mapped.
British populations of C. stricta are variable, perhaps because of past hybridisation and introgression with other species (Stace 1975), and the presence of hybrids in some areas complicates the picture. Crackles (1994; 1995) describes in detail populations of C. stricta and C. canescens and their hybrids in south-east Yorkshire. Some plants in populations of C. stricta in Selkirkshire show some similarity to C. scotica although they are well outside the southern limit of that species, and their identity remains uncertain.
C. stricta has a circumpolar distribution. It is widespread in the boreal zone of Europe, Asia and North America, and occurs very locally in mountains in central Asia, Japan and South America..
adapted from O. M. Stewart, in Stewart, et al. (1994)
Scarce Atlas Account
Calamagrostis stricta (Timm) Koeler
Narrow small-reed
Status: rare?
A plant of near-neutral bogs and marshes. At a site near Dalmellington it grows with Deschampsia cespitosa, Filipendula ulmaria, Juncus effusus and Phalaris arundinacea. In Yorkshire it is found as an emergent at the edge of the Leven Canal. It is primarily a lowland species, but ascends to 340 metres at Kingside Loch.
C. stricta is a tufted perennial, with slender creeping rhizomes. It flowers in June and July. Little is known of its reproductive biology.
It is difficult to assess trends in the distribution of C. stricta as it has previously been confused with C. scotica, C. purpurea and hybrids with C. canescens and perhaps with other species. It has certainly been lost from some sites through drainage.
C. stricta has a circumpolar distribution. It is widespread in the boreal zone of Europe, Asia and North America, and occurs very locally in mountains further south.
British populations of C. stricta are variable, perhaps because of past hybridisation and introgression with other species (Stace 1975). Where C. stricta grows with C. scotica in Caithness there is little sign of hybridisation between them, but some plants in populations of C. stricta in Selkirkshire show some similarity to C. scotica although they are well outside the southern limit of that species.
As this species has been recorded in only 15 of the British 10 km squares since 1970, it qualifies for inclusion in the Red Data Book (Perring & Farrell 1983) under the current criteria. However it will probably be recorded in more than 15 British 10 km squares, when, as seems likely, it is refound in some of its old localities.
O. M. Stewart
Atlas text references
References: Atlas (397b)
Crackles (1995
1997)
.
1988. The Irish Red Data Book. 1. Vascular Plants.
.
1986. Atlas of north European vascular plants north of the Tropic of Cancer. 3 vols.
.
1965. Vergleichende Chorologie der zentraleuropäischen Flora. Volume 1. 2 vols.
.
1994. Scarce plants in Britain.
.
1999. British Red Data Books. 1. Vascular plants, edn 3.