Karl Foerster grass and wild grass in Alberta

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Maisie2015 Forestburg, Canada Aug 31, 2015

Hi - I live a couple hours out of Edmonton, and notice the beautiful Karl Foerster grass growing in Edmonton. I was wondering if this is the same grass that lines the edges of farmer's fields?

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altagardener Calgary, AB(Zone 3b) Aug 31, 2015

'Karl Foerster' is a cultivar of Calamagrostis x acutiflora - a hybrid of C. epigejos and C. arundinacea, both of which are European species. This hybrid is not noted as having escaped into the wild in Alberta, although one of its parents, C. epigejos, has. (Note that it's also spelled as "epigeios".)

I suppose it's possible that you are seeing this (C. epigejos), or one of the many other Calamogrostis species that are native to Alberta. (C. epigejos is the only introduced one.)

If you click on the "Subordinate Taxa" link in this USDA Plants site, you'll see the various Calamagrostis species that occur here, with native species in green, and the introduced one in blue:
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=85962&flora_id=2


However, since grasses are rather difficult to ID, and many look superficially like 'Karl Foerster' (depending entirely on how detailed and informed one's observation is), it might well be some other introduced or native species... it's really impossible to say.


This message was edited Aug 31, 2015 8:58 PM

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