Calamagrostis stricta
 
Narrow Reed-Grass

Inflorescence

Fire Guard Road, 4.5 Miles North of Hudson Bay
24-July-2021

The inflorescence is a panicle.

I had some trouble determining whether this specimen was C. stricta or C. canadensis because it appeared to have features of both species. I decided on C. stricta because most of the features pointed in this direction.  I hope to take some more pictures of plants from this population at an earlier stage this spring.

The following items are taken from keys in Flora of Saskatchewan, Fascicle 4, Grasses of Saskatchewan by Anna L. Leighton and Vernon L. Harms.  Family Poaceae is first divided into tribes, then the tribes are divided into genera, and the genera divided into species.  However, there are a number of tribes that are very difficult to distinguish morphologically.  These are grouped into a large, artificial tribe I call "Multitribe".  Multitribe is then divided into groups, and each group is then divided into genera.  The answers are the the order you would normally work through the keys.

Multitribe: Answers to key questions leading to this tribe. 
Mature inflorescence, if breaking into units, then the units not as below; NOT [Mature inflorescence breaking into spikelet units consisting of a sessile fertile spikelet, a hairy pedicel with or without a sterile spikelet at tip, and a hairy rachis joint, all arising at the same point (a node) in specialized panicle branches called rames]
Spikelets not as below; sterile florets if present, either located distal to the fertile floret(s) on the rachilla or paired and attached at the base of a single fertile floret, not paired with the upper glume as below; lemma and palea variously textured, enclosing the flower or not; disarticulation usually above the glumes; NOT [Spikelets usually dorsally compressed, appearing 1-flowered but containing 1 fertile floret and 1 sterile floret, the latter attached to the base of fertile floret opposite the upper glume, resembling the upper glume, and together with the upper glume enveloping the fertile floret; lower glumes minute (sometimes absent) to 3/4 as long as upper glumes and typically wrapping most of the way around the pedicel at base; fertile floret seed-like with chartaceous-indurate lemma and palea enclosing flower and fruit; disarticulation below the glumes with rare exceptions]
Spikelets 1 to many-flowered, subtended by a pair of glumes (only 1 on lateral spikelets in Lolium); palea margins enclosed or not; plants of dry or wet habitats; NOT [Spikelets 1-flowered, lacking glumes; margins of the palea tightly enclosed by the lemma margins on female or perfect florets; plants of wetlands, often emergent aquatic]
Inflorescence not as below; if a terminal spike, then the lateral spikelets attached edgewise to the rachis with inner (upper) glume wanting (as in Lolium); NOT [Inflorescence a terminal spike with sessile or subsessile spikelets attached broadside at nodes on opposite sides of the rachis]
Lemmas and lemma awns not as below; if lemma indurate and enveloping the floret, then glumes distinctly dorsally compressed and calluses glabrous (as in Milium); NOT [Lemmas stiff to indurate, firmer than the glumes, surrounding the palea and often overlapping along the margins, closed at the tip as well as at the base, often pubescent; lemma awns (caducous or wanting in some species) terete and encircled at the base by the closed tip of the lemma; calluses usually pubescent, rarely glabrous]

Group2: Answers to key questions leading to this group. 
If plants mat-forming, then inflorescences not as below; NOT [Mat-forming annuals or perennials either with clusters of spikelets hidden by sharp-pointed leaves at branch tips, or with pistillate inflorescences consisting of burs partially hidden within expanded leaf sheaths with only the staminate inflorescences exceeding the upper leaves]
Inflorescence not as below, the spikelets usually on pedicels in panicles that range from spike-like to open; if spikelets sessile, then they either have more than 1 fertile floret per spikelet or are not arranged like the teeth of a comb; NOT [Inflorescence consisting of spike-like panicle branches with sessile- subsessile, closely imbricate, regularly-spaced, parallel spikelets all directed toward 1 side of the branch like the teeth of a comb (loosely so in Bouteloua curtipendula); fertile florets 1 per spikelet]
Spikelets with 1 fertile floret; sterile florets if present, attached above or below the fertile floret; NOT [Spikelets with more than 1 fertile floret; sterile florets if present, attached above the fertile florets (Phragmites, with sterile florets attached above and below fertile florets, is an exception)]

Calamagrostis: Answers to key questions leading to this genus. 
Spikelets pedicellate; inflorescence not as below; NOT [Spikelets sessile and closely oppressed to slender, 3-sided branches; inflorescence usually comprising over 1/2 of the plant height]
Sterile florets, when present, attached to the rachilla distal to the fertile floret; NOT [Sterile florets 2, attached at base of the fertile floret, either rudimentary and lacking sexual parts, or large and staminate]
Panicles contracted to open; if spike-like, then disarticulation above the glumes; calluses glabrous or bearded;  NOT [Panicles spike-like, dense, uninterrupted; disarticulation below the glumes (occasionally above the glumes early in the season for Phleum species) with spikelets at the top of the rachis falling and revealing the naked rachis in mature plants; calluses glabrous]
Calluses densely to sparsely bearded with hairs 1-4.5 mm long; lemmas glabrous or rarely scabridulous-puberulent; lemma awns absent or attached to the lemma back usually below midlength; NOT [Calluses glabrous or bearded with sparse hairs < 1 mm long; if callus hairs longer than 1 mm, then lemmas pubescent proximally with hairs similar in length to the callus hairs, and lemma awns, if present, attached at or just below the apex]
Glumes about equal to each other in length, and equaling or exceeding the lemma; ligules membranous; lemmas awned (though awn may be difficult to see among the callus hairs); rachilla prolonged 0.5-2 mm beyond base of the floret and densely bearded in some species; rhizomes, when present, slender; NOT  [Glumes unequal in length with the lower (shorter) glume distinctly shorter than the lemma; ligules a dense ring of hairs; lemmas unawned; rachilla not prolonged beyond base of the floret; rhizomes always present, stout, covered with shiny, coriaceous scales]

Stricta: Answers to key questions leading to this species
Most callus hairs 3/4 as long to longer than the lemmas, some hairs may be shorter; lemma awns ± straight, about as long as the lemmas and included within the glumes, stout or slender, if slender then hardly distinguishable from the callus hairs; rachilla prolongations slender, about as long as the callus hairs and often difficult to distinguish from them; NOT [Callus hairs up to 1/2-3/4 as long as the lemmas; lemma awns bent or geniculate, as long or longer than the lemmas, exserted from the glumes or protruding laterally from between them, stout, clearly distinguishable from the callus hairs; rachilla prolongations densely bearded, usually longer than the callus hairs and clearly distinguishable from them]
Panicles (0.5) 1-2 (2.5) cm wide, the longer branches usually <= 5 cm; callus hairs of variable lengths with some from 3/4 to slightly longer than the lemmas; lemma awns slender or stout; ligules usually entire, sometimes lacerate, to 5.5 (6) mm long; glumes smooth or scabrous; leaf blades flat or involute, with abaxial surface smooth or scabrous; culm nodes 1-3 (4); NOT [Panicles (1) 2-4 (8) cm wide, the longer branches usually > 5 cm long; callus hairs ± uniform in length with most as long or longer than the lemmas (there may be an outer ring of shorter hairs); lemma awns slender, hardly distinguishable from callus hairs; ligules lacerate, to 8 (12) mm long; glumes scabrous throughout or at least on the keel; leaf blades flat, with abaxial surface scabrous; culm nodes mostly 3-5 (8)]
Glumes 2-4 (5) mm long, greenish brown or purple-tinged, usually less than 3 times longer than wide, smooth or ± scabrous, not glossy, the apices acute and usually opaque; lemma awns stout and usually readily distinguishable from the callus hairs; callus hairs usually shorter than the lemmas; culm nodes (1) 2-3 (4); leaf blades often longer than 20 cm; plants often taller than 6 dm; NOT [Glumes (3.5) 4-5 (5.5) mm long, purplish, usually more than 3 times longer than wide, smooth and glossy, sometimes scabridulous on keel, the apices acute to acuminate, usually thin and translucent; lemma awns usually slender and hardly distinguishable from callus hairs; some callus hairs as long as the lemmas, others shorter; culm nodes 1-2 (3); leaf blades mostly shorter than 20 cm; plants usually less than 6 dm high]