Elymus curvatus
Elymus churchii
awnless wild-rye, awnless wlldrye, beardless wild rye
Church's wildrye
60-110 cm, stiffly erect, or the base sometimes geniculate;
nodes 6-9, concealed or exposed, glabrous.
50-120 cm, erect;
nodes 4-8, exposed or concealed, often reddish brown or blackish, glabrous.
evenly distributed;
sheaths glabrous, often reddish brown;
auricles to 1 mm, sometimes absent;
ligules shorter than 1 mm, ciliolate;
blades 5-15 mm wide, the lower blades usually lax, shorter, narrower, and senescing earlier, the upper blades usually ascending and somewhat involute, adaxial surfaces smooth or scabridulous, occasionally scabrous.
evenly distributed;
sheaths usually glabrous, sometimes pubescent at the summit;
auricles 1-2 mm, often reddish brown or blackish;
ligules to 1 mm, often reddish brown;
blades 3-11 mm wide, lax, adaxial surfaces glabrous or short-pilose.
9-15 cm long, (0.5)0.7-1.3 cm wide, erect, exserted or the bases slightly sheathed, with 2 spikelets per node;
internodes 2.5-4.5 mm long, about 0.25-5 mm thick at the thinnest sections, smooth or scabrous beneath the spikelets.
10-18 cm long, 3-5 cm wide, slightly nodding, with 2 spikelets per node;
internodes (5)7-13(18) mm long, about 0.2 mm thick at the thinnest sections, flexuous, with green lateral bands, glabrous except the dorsal angles hispid.
10-15 mm, appressed, often reddish brown at maturity, with (2)3-4(5) florets, lowest florets functional;
disarticulation below the glumes and beneath the florets, or the lowest floret falling with the glumes.
10-15 mm, usually appressed, with 3(5) florets, lowest florets functional;
disarticulation above the glumes, beneath each floret.
equal or subequal, the basal 2-3 mm terete, indurate, strongly bowed out, without evident venation, glume bodies 7-15 mm long, 1.2-2.1 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, widening above the base, 3-5-veined, usually glabrous or scabrous, occasionally hispidulous, rarely hirsute on the veins, margins firm, awns 0-3(5) mm;
lemmas 6-10 mm, glabrous or scabrous, rarely hirsute, awns (0.5)1-3(4) mm, rarely 5-10 mm on the lemmas of the distal spikelets, straight;
paleas 6-10 mm, obtuse, often emarginate;
anthers 1.5-3 mm.
often differing in length by more than 5 mm, sometimes vestigial to absent from the upper spikelets or throughout, 0-15(20) mm long including the undifferentiated awns, indurate at the base, 0.1-0.3 mm wide, setaceous to subulate, entire, 0-1-veined, glabrous, margins firm, awns often outcurving;
lemmas 8-10 mm, usually hairy, occasionally glabrous, awns (10)20-30(35) mm, slightly to strongly outcurving at maturity;
paleas 7-9 mm, obtuse to truncate, sometimes emarginate;
anthers 2.5-3 mm, evident in June.
late June to mid-August.
= 28, 42.
= unknown.
Elymus curvatus
Elymus churchii
Elymus curvatus grows in moist or damp soils of open forests, thickets, grasslands, ditches, and disturbed ground, especially on bottomland. It is widespread from British Columbia and Washington, through the Intermountain region and northern Rockies, to the northern Great Plains. It is infrequent or rare in the midwest, the Great Lakes region, and the northeast, and is virtually unknown in the southeast. It is similar to E. virginicus (p. 298), and has sometimes been included in that species as E. virginicus var. submuticus Hook., but is more distinct than the varieties of E. virginicus treated above. Although E. virginicus and E. curvatus overlap greatly in range, E. curvatus usually has a distinct growth form, and its anthesis is 1-2 weeks later (Brooks 1974). Its spikes range from being completely exserted, especially west of the Great Plains, to largely sheathed, especially east of the Mississippi River and in more stressed environments. This geographic trend parallels that within E. virginicus, but sheathed plants of E. curvatus can usually be distinguished by their short awns. Clear transitions to E. virginicus, usually var. jejunus, are rare, but, especially from Missouri to Wisconsin, there are occasional plants with 5-10 mm awns on a few lemmas, especially at the spike tips. Rarely, plants from Missouri and Iowa to Quebec have hispid to hirsute spikelets, suggesting introgression with E. virginicus var. intermedius. There are a few records of apparent hybrids with other species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Elymus churchii grows in dry, rocky, often relatively base-rich soils, in open woods on ridges, and on bluffs and river banks. Its range includes the central Ouachita Mountains and the western Ozark Mountains in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.
Elymus churchii used to be included in E. interruptus (p. 306) (Steyermark 1963; Smith 1991). It is similar to the more eastern, disjunct E. svensonii (see previous), from which it differs in its more open spikes, longer awns, fewer florets per spikelet, and less pubescent, less glaucous foliage. Like E. svensonii, E. churchii may have originated from hybridization between E. canadensis (p. 303) and E. hystrix (p. 316); occasional intermediates with both species exist (Campbell 2002).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
MO Plants
