Calamovilfa longifolia (Hook)
Prairie Sandreed

Habit: 		Tall perennial, with long, strong, scaly, sharp-pointed rhizomes.
Culms: 		Mostly solitary, 50-180 cm. tall, stout, smooth.
Blades: 	Elongated narrow stiff, flat or more or less involute, 4-8 mm. wide near the base, tapering to a long,
		fine point, slightly rough above.
Sheaths: 	Crowded, overlapping, usually hairy, especially near the summit and on the margins.
Ligule: 	A dense ring of hairs 1-2 mm. long.
Inflorescence: 	Narrow loosely spreading pale panicles, 15-35 cm. long, the slender smooth branches erect or
		ascending, the lower 10-12 cm. long.
Spikelets: 	Pale, 5-7 mm. long, flattened, 1-flowered, crowded, the rachilla disarticulating above the
		glumes, not prolonged behind the palea, awnless, callus densely bearded.
Glumes: 	Acuminate, persistent, rigid, papery, awnless, keeled, 1-nerved, 6-8 mm. long, the first shorter
		than the second, the second equal to or exceeding the floret, callus-hairs about half the length of the
		smooth lemma and palea.
Lemmas: 	1-nerved, acute, about as long or somewhat shorter than the second glume, glabrous,
		with a ring of long hairs at the base, enclosing a 2-keeled palea and a perfect flower.
Palea: 		About as long as the lemma, broad, deeply furrowed between the strong nerves, glabrous.
Habitat: 	Sand hills and prairies.  June-September.
Kansas Range:	Jewell to Shawnee, Cheyenne and Comanche counties.
Use: 		An excellent sand binding grass, coarse forage.
Synonyms:	Calamovilfa longifolia (Hook.) Scribn. var. longifolia