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GRASSES OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Heather Stewart, Richard Hebda Major Groups of Grasses Table of Contents Glossary Catabrosa This genus has seven species in Northern Eurasia compared to one species in North America. Though palatable, it grows primarily in aquatic habitats and is too infrequent or difficult to harvest to be an important forage grass. Catabrosa aquatica (L.) Beauv. Water Hairgrass Plant: Catabrosa aquatica is a native species that grows to 10-60 cm tall. It is an aquatic perennial with a creeping or slightly bent base. The open flowerhead is pyramid-shaped with small blunt-looking spikelets, and one or two flowers in each spikelet. Leaves and Stem: Sheaths are open to half their length or closed for their full length. Flat leaves are 2-13 mm wide and the tips are prowlike (similar to Poa species). The ligules are 2-8 mm long and hairy to smooth along the upper edge. There are no auricles. Flowerhead and Flowers: The open flowerhead is 7-20 cm long with one or two flowers to each spikelet. The blunt, ragged-edged glumes are shorter than the flowers, nerveless and membranelike. The lemmas are unawned, prominently nerved and the nerves do not converge at the tip of the lemma. Habitat: Water Hairgrass grows in moist meadows and along lakeshores or streambanks in the montane zone. Water Hairgrass has only been found in one location near Fernie. It is a Red-listed species by the B.C. Conservation Data Centre, Douglas et al. (1998). Similar Species: In British Columbia, Water Hairgrass occurs at the northwestern limit of its range, and there are no species that it closely resembles.

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