Elymus curvatus
Elymus pringlei
awnless wild-rye, awnless wlldrye, beardless wild rye
Mexican wildrye
60-110 cm, stiffly erect, or the base sometimes geniculate;
nodes 6-9, concealed or exposed, glabrous.
50-110 cm, erect or somewhat geniculate at the base;
nodes 6-9, mostly exposed, 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, occasionally pilose, hairs somewhat retrorse;
auricles about 1 mm, pale or brownish;
ligules about 1 mm, erase;
blades 3-12 mm wide, lax, adaxial surfaces sparsely scabridulous, sometimes hispidulous to pilose on the veins, usually glaucous.
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.
4-12 cm long, 2-3 cm wide, erect, the bases sometimes sheathed, with 2 spikelets per node;
internodes 3-6 mm, about 0.2 mm thick at the thinnest sections, with 2 hispid dorsal angles, without green lateral bands.
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 excluding the awns, 18-30 mm including the awns, appressed, with 3-5(6) 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.
subequal, 12-22 mm long including the undifferentiated awns, 0.2-0.3(0.6) mm wide, setaceous, entire, 0-1(2)-veined, tapering from the base, glabrous, margins firm, awns more or less straight;
lemmas 8-10 mm, usually scabrous-hispid or thinly strigose, at least distally, awns 8-22 mm, straight or flexuous;
paleas 7-8 mm, obtuse, often emarginate;
anthers 2.5-4 mm.
late June to mid-August.
May to June.
= 28, 42.
= unknown.
Elymus curvatus
Elymus pringlei
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 pringlei grows on moist slopes and canyons, in pine and deciduous tree woods, at 1500-2300 m in the Sierra Madre Orientale of eastern Mexico. This poorly known species is similar to E. texensis (see next) and E. interruptus (p. 306). It is included here because it seems likely that it also grows in southern Texas, having been collected in Coahuila, Mexico, 54 miles from the border, near Big Bend National Park (Campbell 2002).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
