Elymus glabriflorus
Elymus wawawaiensis
southeastern wild-rye
Snake River wheatgrass, wawawai wild rye
60-140 cm, erect;
nodes 6-9, mostly concealed, glabrous.
(15)50-130 cm, erect, mostly glabrous;
nodes usually glabrous, sometimes slightly pubescent.
evenly distributed;
sheaths glabrous or pubescent, often reddish brown;
auricles absent or to 2 mm, usually purplish brown;
ligules shorter than 1 mm;
blades 7-15 mm wide, lax or somewhat involute and ascending, usually dull green, sometimes with a glaucous bloom, adaxial surfaces glabrous or densely short-villous.
more or less evenly distributed;
basal sheaths glabrate, margins not evidently ciliate;
auricles absent or to 1.2 mm;
ligules 0.1-1.1 mm;
blades to 28 cm long, 1.7-5 mm wide, involute when dry, adaxial surfaces usually densely pubescent, rarely sparsely pubescent.
6-20 cm long, (2) 2.5-4(5.5) cm wide, erect, exserted, with (10)18-30(36) nodes, usually with 2(3) spikelets per node, occasionally with up to 5 at some nodes;
internodes 3-5 mm long, 0.3-0.8 mm thick and usually 4-angled at the thinnest sections, glabrous or pubescent beneath the spikelets.
5-20 cm long, 2.5-3 cm wide including the awns, erect to slightly nodding, with 1 spikelet per node;
internodes 5-12 mm long, about 0.2 mm thick, about 0.3 mm wide, glabrous beneath the spikelets.
10-20 mm, strongly divergent, often reddish brown at maturity, with (2)3-5(6) florets, lowest florets functional;
disarticulation below the glumes and each floret, or the lowest floret often falling with the glumes.
10-22 mm long, about twice as long as the internodes, 2-8.5 mm wide, appressed, with 4-10 florets;
rachillas glabrous;
disarticulation above the glumes, beneath each floret.
equal or subequal, entire, the basal 1-3 mm terete, indurate, moderately bowed out, without evident venation, glume bodies 7-18 mm long, (0.7)0.9-1.7 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, widening above the base, (3)4-5(7)-veined, smooth or scabrous, sometimes hirsute, margins firm, awns (10)15-25(30) mm, straight except the awns of the lowest spikelets frequently contorted;
lemmas 6-13 mm, smooth, scabrous, or hirsute, awns (15)25-35(40) mm, straight except the awns of the lowest spikelets occasionally contorted;
paleas 6-12 mm, obtuse;
anthers 2-4 mm.
4-10 mm long, 0.5-1.3 mm wide, narrowly lanceolate, widest at or below midlength, glabrous, often glaucous, 1-3-veined, flat or weakly keeled, margins 0.1-0.2 mm wide, widest near midlength, apices usually acuminate, awned or unawned, awns to 6 mm;
lemmas 6-12 mm, smooth or slightly scabrous, margins often sparsely pubescent proximally, apices awned, longest awns in the spikelets 9-28 mm, strongly divergent;
paleas 7.2-10.5 mm, keels scabrous distally, tapering to the 0.2-0.3 mm wide apices;
anthers 3.5-6 mm.
usually mid-June to late July.
= 28.
= 28.
Elymus glabriflorus
Elymus wawawaiensis
Elymus glabriflorus grows on moist, damp, or dry soil in open woods, thickets, and tall grasslands, sometimes spreading into old fields and roadsides. It is found in most of the southeastern United States, extending north to Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, and along the Atlantic coast to Maine; it is rare north of Maryland. Anthesis is usually 2-4 weeks later than in E. virginicus (see next) and other sympatric taxa, even in Texas, where it occurs up to a month earlier than the dates given (Davies 1980).
Elymus glabriflorus varies greatly in its pubescence, but without clear taxonomic relevance. Plants that combine pubescent spikelets and, usually, pubescent leaves with somewhat shorter spikes (6-12 cm versus 9-20 cm) and lemmas (6-10 mm versus 7-13 mm) are typical on relatively dry, infertile soils, especially in hilly interior regions, and are less frequent on the southeastern coastal plain. They have been named E. glabriflorus var. australis (Scribn. & C.R. Ball) J.J.N. Campb. In contrast, glabrous to scabrous plants that are often more robust usually grow on relatively moist or damp soils of bottomlands and upland depressions.
Elymus glabriflorus is most closely related to E. macgregorii (see previous) and E. virginicus, forming occasional hybrids with both (Campbell 2000). It is sometimes confused with E. villosus (p. 302), from which it differs in having erect spikes, and glumes that are bowed out and disarticulate at maturity. It has also been confused with E. canadensis, especially E. canadensis var. robustus (p. 305), which may be derived from introgressants between the two species (Davies 1980). Hybrids with E. hystrix (p. 316) are also known, with apparent introgression at some range margins. Artificial crosses with other species failed in several cases (Church 1967a, 1967b).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Elymus wawawaiensis grows primarily in shallow, rocky soils of slopes in coulees and reaches of the Salmon, Snake, and Yakima rivers of Washington, northern Oregon, and Idaho. There are also a few records from localities at some distance from the Snake River and its tributaries. These probably reflect deliberate introductions. C.V. Piper, who worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in southeastern Washington from 1892-1902, frequently distributed seed to farmers in the region from populations that he considered superior; he considered E. wawawaiensis to be a superior form of what is here called Pseudo-roegneria spicata (p. 281). Another source of introduced populations is 'Secar', a cultivar of E. wawawaiensis that is recommended as a forage grass for arid areas of the northwestern United States.
Elymus wawawaiensis resembles a vigorous version of Pseudoroegneria spicata, and was long confused with that species. It differs in its more imbricate spikelets and narrower, stiff glumes. In its primary range, E. wawawaiensis is often sympatric with P. spicata, but the two tend to grow in different habitats, E. wawawaiensis growing in shallow, rocky soils and P. spicata in medium- to fine-textured loess soil. The two species also differ cytologically, E. wawawaiensis being an allo-tetraploid, and P. spicata consisting of diploids and autotetraploids.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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