大拂子茅 da fu zi mao

Calamagrostis epigeios (Linnaeus) Roth subsp. macr-olepis (Litvinov) Tzvelev; C. macrolepis var. rigidula T. F. Wang.

Perennial, densely tufted, rhizomatous; rhizomes spreading. Culms erect, 90–120 cm tall, 3–4 mm in diam., 4–5-noded, scabrid below panicle. Leaf sheaths smooth; leaf blades flat or margins involute, grayish green, 15–40 cm, 5–10 mm wide, scabrid; ligule 5–12 mm, apex tattered. Panicle fairly dense, lobed, 15–25 × 3–4.5 cm; branches erect, 1–3 cm, scabrid. Spikelets 7–11 mm, greenish, purplish or yellowish green; glumes lanceolate-subulate, unequal, lower glume 7–11 mm, upper glume 1–1.5 mm shorter, keel scabrid; callus hairs 1.5 times length of lemma; lemma 3–5 mm, 3-veined, smooth or scabrid, apex slightly 2-lobed; awn arising near middle of lemma back, 3–4 mm, straight or slightly curved; palea 2/3 as long as lemma. Rachilla extension usually absent. Stamens 3, anthers 2.5–3 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul–Sep.

Grassy slopes in montane regions, sandy places near rivers, on waste ground; 100–3200 m. Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shanxi, Xinjiang [SW Asia (Caucasus), Japan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan].

This is an element from the Calamagrostis epigeios complex and is often included within that species.