Difference between revisions of "Elymus glaucus"

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Blue wildrye is a large perennial bunchgrass. It is very tall (up to 5 feet) with an upright growth habit and just a few stems per plant. It is similar in stature and growth habit to slender wheatgrass. The leaf blades are thin and flat, ranging from 4-12mm (.2-.5 inch) wide. Leaf color changes from green to blue green, with a white waxy coating. Frosts induce dormancy.<ref name=":0">USDA NRCS Plant Guide. Retrieved from https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_elgl.pdf</ref>
 
Blue wildrye is a large perennial bunchgrass. It is very tall (up to 5 feet) with an upright growth habit and just a few stems per plant. It is similar in stature and growth habit to slender wheatgrass. The leaf blades are thin and flat, ranging from 4-12mm (.2-.5 inch) wide. Leaf color changes from green to blue green, with a white waxy coating. Frosts induce dormancy.<ref name=":0">USDA NRCS Plant Guide. Retrieved from https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_elgl.pdf</ref>
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General: Tufted perennials, forming clumps up to 10 cm. wide, the hollow culms 5-10 dm. tall.
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Leaves: Sheaths open, glabrous to pubescent, the collar often purplish; auricles usually present and well-developed; ligules about 1 mm. long, with marginal hairs; blades flat, 5-10 mm. broad, glabrous or scabrous to hairy.
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Flowers: Inflorescence as single, terminal, stiff spike 5-15 cm. long; spikelets overlapping, usually 2 per node, borne flatwise on the rachis, 3- to 5-flowered, disarticulating above the glume; glumes narrowly lanceolate, mostly membranous, strongly 3- to 5-nerved, acuminate to short-awned; lemmas mostly glabrous, 10-12 mm. long, usually with a straight awn 1-2 cm. long; paleas nearly as long as the body of the lemmas.
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Tufted perennial bunchgrass with terminal spikes, growing to 100 cm tall.<ref name=":1">Bowcutt, F., &
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Hamman, S. (2016). ''Vascular Plants
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of the South Sound Prairies''. p. 124.</ref> Stems erect, few per plant.<ref name=":0" /> Few basal leaves, cauline leaf sheaths open,<ref name=":1" /> pubescent or glabrous<ref name=":2" />; culms and leaf blades often glabrous;<ref name=":1" /> ligules 1 mm, marginally haired.<ref name=":2" /> Inflorescences with two spikelets at each node.<ref name=":1" /> Spikelets usually with 2-6 flowers; articulation point above the glumes; glumes equal or nearly so, flattened, awns 0-9 mm,<ref>Hitchcock, C. L., Cronquist, A., Giblin, D.,
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& Legler, B. et al. (2018). ''Flora of the Pacific Northwest: an
 +
illustrated manual''. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 791-793.</ref> 3 to 5-nerved, narrowly lanceolate and membranous;<ref name=":2" /> lemmas awned, often glabrous, 10-12 mm long; paleas nearly equal to lemmas.<ref name=":2" />
  
 
===Bloom Period===
 
===Bloom Period===
  
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June to August<ref>WTU Herbarium, Burke Museum, & University of Washington. Retrieved from https://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Elymus%20glaucus</ref>
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June - August<ref name=":2">WTU Herbarium, Burke Museum, & University of Washington. Retrieved from https://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Elymus%20glaucus</ref>
  
 
===Distribution===
 
===Distribution===
  
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Blue wildrye is found from California to Alaska and also the Great Plains and northern Mexico.<ref name=":0" />  
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Alaska to California, east to the Midwest.<ref name=":2" />  
  
 
===Habitat===
 
===Habitat===
  
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Open areas, native prairie, chaparral, woodland and forest. Blue wildrye is tolerant of partial shade and soil textures ranging from loam to clay, moist to dry, and well-drained soils. Low moisture use – high drought tolerance.
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Open prairies, chaparral, meadows and forests with well-drained soils. High drought tolerance, disturbance adapted.<ref name=":0" />  
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This plant has demonstrated moderate sensitivity to saline soils.
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Its successional Status is that blue wildrye is typically favored by disturbance.<ref name=":0" />  
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−
 
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===Uses===
 
===Uses===
  

Revision as of 10:51, 29 June 2021

  • Scientific Name: Elymus glaucus
  • Family: Poaceae
  • Common Names: blue wild-rye
  • Codon: ELYGLA
Photo by Richard Old. Also featured on Main Page.

Taxonomy

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Subkingdom: Viridiplantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Spermatophytina
Class: Magnoliopsida
Subclass: Lilianae
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Elymus L.
Species: Elymus Glaucus Buckley
Synonyms
  • Elymus americanus Vasey & Scribn. ex Cassidy
  • Elymus angustifolius Burtt Davy
  • Elymus hispidulus Burtt Davy
  • Elymus marginalis Rydb.
  • Elymus nitidus Vasey
  • Elymus petersonii Rydb.

[1]

Description

Blue wildrye is a large perennial bunchgrass. It is very tall (up to 5 feet) with an upright growth habit and just a few stems per plant. It is similar in stature and growth habit to slender wheatgrass. The leaf blades are thin and flat, ranging from 4-12mm (.2-.5 inch) wide. Leaf color changes from green to blue green, with a white waxy coating. Frosts induce dormancy.[2]

General: Tufted perennials, forming clumps up to 10 cm. wide, the hollow culms 5-10 dm. tall.

Leaves: Sheaths open, glabrous to pubescent, the collar often purplish; auricles usually present and well-developed; ligules about 1 mm. long, with marginal hairs; blades flat, 5-10 mm. broad, glabrous or scabrous to hairy.

Flowers: Inflorescence as single, terminal, stiff spike 5-15 cm. long; spikelets overlapping, usually 2 per node, borne flatwise on the rachis, 3- to 5-flowered, disarticulating above the glume; glumes narrowly lanceolate, mostly membranous, strongly 3- to 5-nerved, acuminate to short-awned; lemmas mostly glabrous, 10-12 mm. long, usually with a straight awn 1-2 cm. long; paleas nearly as long as the body of the lemmas.

Tufted perennial bunchgrass with terminal spikes, growing to 100 cm tall.[3] Stems erect, few per plant.[2] Few basal leaves, cauline leaf sheaths open,[3] pubescent or glabrous[4]; culms and leaf blades often glabrous;[3] ligules 1 mm, marginally haired.[4] Inflorescences with two spikelets at each node.[3] Spikelets usually with 2-6 flowers; articulation point above the glumes; glumes equal or nearly so, flattened, awns 0-9 mm,[5] 3 to 5-nerved, narrowly lanceolate and membranous;[4] lemmas awned, often glabrous, 10-12 mm long; paleas nearly equal to lemmas.[4]

Bloom Period

June - August[4]

Distribution

Alaska to California, east to the Midwest.[4]

Habitat

Open prairies, chaparral, meadows and forests with well-drained soils. High drought tolerance, disturbance adapted.[2]

Uses

Site Rehabilitation: A desirable species for use in erosion control. Blue wildrye is good for streambank restoration, meadow and swale seeding. It is also excellent for reseeding burned or disturbed areas in oak woodland or forest. Blue wildrye is not recommended to be seeded alone in revegetation plantings, and it should not make up more than 50% of the seed mix.

Wildlife: Blue wildrye can also provide excellent wildlife habitat for mammals, birds, and waterfowl. It provides good forage early in the season, but later, may be too coarse and stemmy.

Landscaping: The attractive, blue-green foliage adds value to commercial landscaping projects.

First Nations: Blue wildrye has similar uses as creeping wild rye, primarily as a cereal grain. It is less desirable for basketry as the nodes are thick, but this does not exclude its use in some baskets. Similar to creeping wildrye, there may be some ceremonial uses of blue wildrye.[2]

Propagation

see Plant Materials Technical Note No. 17, from USDA in Portland, OR to Natural Resources Conservation Service ("Seed Production of Blue Wildrye", April 1996)


Elymus glaucus seeds, image by Lisa Hintz, taken at the Evergreen State College Olympia Campus.

Seed

Seed sample from: 2010

Average Measurement including husk and awn: 29.8 x 1.2 x 0.9

Measurement Range including husk and awn: L: 22 – 35, W: 1 – 1.5, D: 0.5 – 1

Average Measurement without husk or awn: 5.3 x 1 x 1

Measurement Range without husk or awn: L: 5 - 5.5, W: 0.9 – 1.1, D: 0.9 – 1

Features

Shape: Awn is straight and is 5 – 6 times as long as seed body. Awn is very finely toothed.

Other Structures: Inner seed has deep longitudinal sulcus on one side and a few fine longitudinal lines on the opposite seed face.

Color: Husks off white to tan, papillose with a slight sheen. Hilium is a darker brown color. Seed is tan at the ends, and blue to green in the middle.

Surface: Seed surface is smooth and matte.

Latitudinal Cross Section: elliptical ELGL lat.png

Longitudinal Cross Section: elliptical ELGL long.png

Photo Gallery

  • Photo by Robert L. Carr

References

  • USDA, NRCS. 2012. Elymus glaucus Buckley ssp. glaucus – blue wildrye USDA PLANTS Profile, PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=elgl, 7 May 2012). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA. Retrieved 05/14/2012.
  1. ↑ Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved from https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=40684
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 USDA NRCS Plant Guide. Retrieved from https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_elgl.pdf
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Bowcutt, F., & Hamman, S. (2016). Vascular Plants of the South Sound Prairies. p. 124.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 WTU Herbarium, Burke Museum, & University of Washington. Retrieved from https://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Elymus%20glaucus
  5. ↑ Hitchcock, C. L., Cronquist, A., Giblin, D., & Legler, B. et al. (2018). Flora of the Pacific Northwest: an illustrated manual. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 791-793.
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