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CANADA BLUEJOINT GRASS

NOMENCLATURE

Other Names: Canada bluejoint grass, reed grass

 Scientific Name: Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx)

 Plant Family: Graminae

GENERAL INFORMATION

Botanical Description: grass

 Stems: erect, 1 - 5 feet tall, nodes are purplish to blue in color

 Leaves: sheaths often hairless, blades 0.5 -1 foot long, up to 0.33 inches wide, rough

 Roots: include rhizomes

 Flowers: on 3 - 7 inch stiff panicle stems, open, usually purplish, bloom May - August

 Seeds: Found on small, narrow but round stiff panicle stems arranged in whorls around main stem, seeds enclosed by two pointed, scaly bracts.

 Seedling:

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

Not often a serious weed pest in cranberries.

LIFE CYCLE

Reproduction: perennial

Propagation: seed, underground rhizomes

 Dispersal: wind, water, contaminant in cuttings

DISTRIBUTION

State: Common in wetlands and prairies throughout Wisconsin.

 National: Found northward in Alaska and most of Canada and southward from California to North Carolina.

 Origin:

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Often grows in patches. Favors open swamps, wet meadows, prairies, and moist mountain soils. Common in cranberry marshes, along bed edges, dikes, reservoirs and in native swamps. Occasionally invades new cranberry plantings.

SCOUTING PROCEDURE/ET

While scouting a cranberry bed for disease and insect pests, identify weed populations as they arise. Note the specie(s) of weed present as well as the population level relative to field area. Example: 30% blue joint grass, 10% boneset and joe-pye weed mix.

REFERENCES

Dana, M. 1987. Cranberry Weeds in Wisconsin. Department of Horticulture, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, Wisconsin. p. 16.

 

Gleason, H. A. 1952. Illustrated Flora of the United States and Adjacent Canada. Vol . 1. Lancaster Press, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. p. 160.

Kummer, L. D., T. G. Dittl, and T. D. Planer. 1993. Wisconsin Cranberry Weeds. Wisconsin Cranberry Board, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. p. 26.

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