Elymus curvatus
Elymus semicostatus
awnless wild-rye, awnless wlldrye, beardless wild rye
drooping wildrye
60-110 cm, stiffly erect, or the base sometimes geniculate;
nodes 6-9, concealed or exposed, glabrous.
45-135 cm, erect or geniculately ascending, glabrous.
glabrous or villous;
auricles to 1.5 mm;
ligules 0.5-1.5 mm, truncate;
blades 15-30 cm long, 4-12 mm wide, sometimes villous, adaxial surfaces smooth or scabrous, primary and secondary veins alternating.
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.
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.
8-30 cm long, 1-2 cm wide including the awns, 0.5-1 cm wide excluding the awns, erect or nodding, usually with 1 spikelet per node, sometimes with 2 spikelets at the lower nodes;
internodes 10-20 mm long, about 0.8 mm wide, scabrous on the margins and on the surfaces, marginal prickles larger than those on the surfaces, hirtellous just below the spikelets.
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.
16-30 mm, loosely appressed, with 6-8 florets;
rachilla internodes about 0.8 mm, strigose, hairs to about 0.3 mm;
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, 10-18 mm long, 1.1-2 mm wide, elliptic-lanceolate, green, not keeled, 5-7-veined, veins more or less equally prominent, scabrous, apices acute to acuminate;
lemmas 10-14 mm, scabrous or puberulent dorsally, awned, awns (4)12-18 mm, straight;
paleas 3/4 as long as to slightly shorter than the lemmas, keels outwardly curved below the apices, apices 0.3-0.7 mm wide, truncate;
anthers 3-6 mm.
late June to mid-August.
= 28, 42.
= 28.
Elymus curvatus
Elymus semicostatus
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 semicostatus is native to central Asia, from Afghanistan through Pakistan to northeastern India (Sikkim). Reports of its presence in the Flora region appear to be based on misidentifications.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
