Elymus curvatus
Elymus villosus
awnless wild-rye, awnless wlldrye, beardless wild rye
downy wild-rye, hairy wildrye, silky wild rye
60-110 cm, stiffly erect, or the base sometimes geniculate;
nodes 6-9, concealed or exposed, glabrous.
40-130 cm, erect;
nodes 4-8, concealed or 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 villous-hirsute, pilose, or occasionally glabrate, occasionally reddish brown;
auricles 1-3 mm, brownish;
ligules shorter than 1 mm, entire or erose;
blades 4-12 mm wide, lax, dark glossy green, adaxial surfaces usually densely velutinous-villous with fine whitish hairs, rarely pilose only on the veins.
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, 1.5-3.5 cm wide, slightly or strongly nodding, exserted, usually with 2 spikelets per node, rarely with 1 or 3 at a few nodes;
internodes (1.5)2-3(4) mm long, 0.15-0.25 mm thick at the thinnest sections, usually hairy below the spikelets, rarely glabrous.
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.
7-12 mm, moderately divergent, with 1-2(3) florets, lowest florets functional;
disarticulation above the glumes and 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.
equal, 12-25 mm including the often undifferentiated awns, the basal 0.5-2 mm terete, slightly indurate, straight or nearly so, without evident venation, glume bodies 7-10 mm long, (0.2)0.3-0.8 mm wide, linear-setiform, widening or parallel-sided above the base, 2-3(4)-veined, usually hirsute to hispid, occasionally scabrous to scabridulous, margins firm, awns 5-15 mm, straight;
lemmas 5.5-9 mm, usually villous with fine, whitish, spreading hairs, especially near the margins and apices, sometimes glabrous or with coarser hairs, sometimes scabrous, awns 9-33 mm, straight;
paleas 5-7.5 mm, obtuse, occasionally emarginate;
anthers (1.6)2-3(4) mm.
late June to mid-August.
early June to early July.
= 28, 42.
= 28.
Elymus curvatus
Elymus villosus
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 villosus grows in moist to moderately dry, often rocky soils in woods and thickets, especially in calcareous or other base-rich soils, but it is also frequent on drier, sandy soils or damper, alluvial soils in glaciated regions. It extends from the Great Plains east to southern Quebec, northern New York, and Vermont south to Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina. It is absent from the southern portion of the coastal plain.
Elymus villosus is relatively uniform and distinct, although it has sometimes been confused with hairy plants of E. canadensis (p. 303) and E. glabriflorus (p. 296). The hairs of E. villosus are fine, whitish, and consistently dense on the leaf blades, typically spreading in the spikelets; the hairs of the other species are typically stouter and more appressed in the spikelets. Plants called E. villosus var. arkansanas (Scribn. & C.R. Ball) J.J.N. Campb. are scabrous to glabrous in the spikes, except for the ciliate rachis margins, and often more robust. These are scattered over much of the species' range, except in the north (from Wisconsin to New England), and are locally more frequent than typical plants in the Ozark Mountains and other midwestern hills. Some other western plants (including those called E. striatus var. ballii Pammel) have unusually large, almost erect spikes, suggesting introgression from E. virginicus (p. 298). There are rare apparent hybrids with species in the E. virginicus group, but the only proven natural hybrid is with Hordeum fubatum (p. 245) (see *Elyhordeum, p. 283). Artificial crosses with several species failed to produce healthy Fj plants (Church 1958).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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