Calamovilfa longifolia (Hook.) Scribn.

vernacular prairie sandreed — species · Poaceae

USDA: CALO
GBIF: 8285613
Rank: species

prairie sandreed (Calamovilfa longifolia) — Platephotograph · psweetCC BY-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Graminoid
Duration: Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Poaceae Barnhart
Genus: Calamovilfa

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 8 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 8 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: Medium
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -38 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 135 min.
Precipitation: 12–22 in/yr
pH range: 5.6–8.4
Root depth: 20 in min.
Fertility need: High
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 4.5 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Summer
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 274,000
Propagation: seed

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Medium
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Medium
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 8 counties across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 8 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CALO ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/8285613 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z