Flora of North America species comparison

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Elymus curvatus

Elymus virginicus

awnless wild-rye, awnless wlldrye, beardless wild rye

common eastern wild-rye, Virginia wild rye, élyme de virginie
Habit Plants cespitose, not rhizomatous, often glaucous. Plants cespitose, not rhizomatous, sometimes glaucous, especially in the spikes.
Culms

60-110 cm, stiffly erect, or the base sometimes geniculate;

nodes 6-9, concealed or exposed, glabrous.

30-130 cm, erect to slightly decumbent;

nodes 4-9, concealed or exposed, usually glabrous, rarely pubescent.
Leaves

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, rarely hirsute, occasionally reddish or purplish;

auricles absent or to 1.8 mm, pale brown;

ligules shorter than 1 mm;

blades 2-14(18) mm wide, usually spreading or lax, sometimes becoming involute, basal blades similar to the upper blades, adaxial surfaces usually smooth, sometimes scabridulous, usually glabrous, occasionally pubescent.
Spikes

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.

(3)4-16(22) cm long, 1-2.2(2.5) cm wide, erect, the bases often sheathed, with 2 spikelets per node, rarely with 3 at some nodes;

internodes 3-5 mm long, 0.25-0.5 thick at the thinnest sections, smooth and glabrous, or scabrous, or with hairs beneath the spikelets.
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.

10-15 mm, appressed to slightly divergent, with (2)3-4(6) florets, lowest florets functional;

disarticulation below the glumes and each floret, or the lowest floret falling with the glumes.
Glumes

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 or equal, the basal 1-4 mm terete, indurate, without evident venation, bowed out, yellowish, glume bodies 7-15 mm long, (0.5)0.7-2.3 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, widening above the base, 3-5(8)-veined, usually smooth or scabridulous, margins firm, awns 3-10(15) mm, straight;

lemmas 6-10 mm, scabridulous, glabrous or villous-hirsute, awns (5)8-20(25) mm, straight;

paleas 5-9 mm, obtuse;

anthers 2-3.5(4) mm.
Anthesis

late June to mid-August.

usually mid-June to late July (mid-August).
2n

= 28, 42.

= 28.

Elymus curvatus

Elymus virginicus
Distribution
from USDA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; LB; MB; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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 virginicus is widespread in temperate North America, growing as far west as British Columbia and Arizona. It is infrequent to rare in the Rocky Mountains, western Great Plains, and southeastern coastal plain. It is a complex species, divided here into four intergrading varieties.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Spikelets hispidulous to villous-hirsute, usually glaucous; anthesis usually in early July to mid-August
var. intermedius
1. Spikelets usually glabrous or scabrous, glaucous or not; anthesis usually in mid-June to late July.
→ 2
2. Spikes partly sheathed; glumes 1-2.3 mm wide, strongly indurate and bowed out in the basal 2-4 mm; plants not glaucous, becoming yellowish brown or occasionally somewhat purplish at maturity
var. virginicus
2. Spikes exserted; glumes (0.5)0.7-1.5(1.8) mm wide, moderately indurate and bowed out in the basal 1-2 mm; plants usually glaucous, becoming yellowish or reddish brown at maturity.
→ 3
3. Culms usually 70-100 cm tall, with 6-8 nodes; blades 3-15 mm wide, flat; spikes 4-20 cm long, not strongly glaucous; glumes indurate only in the basal 1 mm
var. jejunus
3. Culms usually 30-80 cm tall, with 4-6 nodes; blades 2-9 mm wide, often becoming involute; spikes 3.5-11 cm long, often strongly glaucous; glumes usually indurate in the basal 1-2 mm
balophilus
Source FNA vol. 24, p. 300. FNA vol. 24, p. 298.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Triticeae > Elymus Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Triticeae > Elymus
Sibling taxa
E. alaskanus, E. albicans, E. arizonicus, E. bakeri, E. canadensis, E. caninus, E. churchii, E. ciliaris, E. dahuricus, E. diversiglumis, E. elymoides, E. glabriflorus, E. glaucus, E. hirsutus, E. hoffmannii, E. hystrix, E. interruptus, E. lanceolatus, E. macgregorii, E. macrourus, E. multisetus, E. pringlei, E. repens, E. riparius, E. scribneri, E. semicostatus, E. sibiricus, E. sierrae, E. stebbinsii, E. svensonii, E. texensis, E. trachycaulus, E. tsukushiensis, E. villosus, E. violaceus, E. virginicus, E. wawawaiensis, E. wiegandii, E. ×cayouetteorum, E. ×ebingeri, E. ×hansenii, E. ×palmerensis, E. ×pinalenoensis, E. ×pseudorepens, E. ×saundersii, E. ×yukonensis
E. alaskanus, E. albicans, E. arizonicus, E. bakeri, E. canadensis, E. caninus, E. churchii, E. ciliaris, E. curvatus, E. dahuricus, E. diversiglumis, E. elymoides, E. glabriflorus, E. glaucus, E. hirsutus, E. hoffmannii, E. hystrix, E. interruptus, E. lanceolatus, E. macgregorii, E. macrourus, E. multisetus, E. pringlei, E. repens, E. riparius, E. scribneri, E. semicostatus, E. sibiricus, E. sierrae, E. stebbinsii, E. svensonii, E. texensis, E. trachycaulus, E. tsukushiensis, E. villosus, E. violaceus, E. wawawaiensis, E. wiegandii, E. ×cayouetteorum, E. ×ebingeri, E. ×hansenii, E. ×palmerensis, E. ×pinalenoensis, E. ×pseudorepens, E. ×saundersii, E. ×yukonensis
Subordinate taxa
E. virginicus var. intermedius, E. virginicus var. jejunus, E. virginicus var. virginicus, balophilus
Synonyms E. virginicus var. submuticus, E. virginicus var. jenkinsii, E. submuticus
Name authority Piper L.
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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