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GRASSES OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Heather Stewart, Richard Hebda Major Groups of Grasses Table of Contents Glossary Beckmannia American Sloughgrass This genus has two species. It was named after Johann Beckmann, a German botanist. The species in this genus have uniquely winged, rounded glumes.   Beckmannia syzigachne (Steud.) ssp. baicalensis (Kusnez.) Koyama & Kawano American Sloughgrass Plant: Beckmannia syzigachne is a native species that grows to 1 m tall. It is a stout annual, often with stolons, and a narrow, congested flowerhead up to 30 cm long. Leaves and Stem: The sheath is open and there are no auricles. The ligule is 6-11 mm long, pointed, hairy and have a smooth upper edge. The flat leaf blades are 5-10 mm wide. Flowerhead and Flowers: The narrow flowerhead has many one-flowered overlapping spikelets pressed against the spike axis. The equal glumes are compressed, slightly wrinkled and semicircular with a deep keel and a pointed tip. They are shorter than the flower. Lance-shaped lemmas have a sharp tip and are much narrower than the glumes. Habitat: American Sloughgrass grows along the edge of ponds and ditches, in wet meadows and marshes up to the montane zone. It is palatable to livestock and is often locally common enough to be an important hay crop. In the Columbia Basin region, American Sloughgrass occurs at Creston Flats, Baker, Sage Creek and Cranbrook. Similar Species: American Sloughgrass has a very distinctive appearance that cannot be confused with other species found in the Columbia Basin.

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