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.

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

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].