Elymus lanceolatus
Elymus churchii
streambank wheatgrass, streamside wild rye, thick-spike wildrye, thickspike wheatgrass
Church's wildrye
22-130 cm, erect;
nodes glabrous.
50-120 cm, erect;
nodes 4-8, exposed or concealed, often reddish brown or blackish, glabrous.
often mostly basal, sometimes more evenly distributed;
sheaths glabrous or pubescent;
auricles usually present on the lower leaves, 0.5-1.5 mm;
ligules 0.1-0.5 mm, erose, sometimes ciliolate;
blades 1.5-6 mm wide, generally involute, abaxial surfaces usually glabrous, adaxial surfaces strigose, ribs subequal in size and spacing.
evenly distributed;
sheaths usually glabrous, sometimes pubescent at the summit;
auricles 1-2 mm, often reddish brown or blackish;
ligules to 1 mm, often reddish brown;
blades 3-11 mm wide, lax, adaxial surfaces glabrous or short-pilose.
3.5-26 cm long, 0.5-1 cm wide, erect to slightly nodding, usually with 1 spikelet per node, sometimes with 2 at a few nodes;
internodes 3.5-15 mm long, 0.1-0.8 mm wide, glabrous or hairy.
10-18 cm long, 3-5 cm wide, slightly nodding, with 2 spikelets per node;
internodes (5)7-13(18) mm long, about 0.2 mm thick at the thinnest sections, flexuous, with green lateral bands, glabrous except the dorsal angles hispid.
8-31 mm, 1.5-3 times longer than the internodes, appressed, with 3-11 florets;
rachillas glabrous or hairy, hairs to 1 mm;
disarticulation above the glumes, beneath each floret.
10-15 mm, usually appressed, with 3(5) florets, lowest florets functional;
disarticulation above the glumes, beneath each floret.
subequal, 5-14 mm long, 1/2 - 3/4 the length of the adjacent lemmas, 0.7-1.3 mm wide, lanceolate, glabrous or hairy, smooth or scabrous, 3-5-veined, flat or weakly, often asymmetrically keeled, keels straight, margins narrow, tapering from the base or from beyond midlength, apices acute to acuminate, sometimes mucronate or shortly awned;
lemmas 7-12 mm, glabrous or hairy, hairs all alike, sometimes scabrous, acute to awn-tipped, awns to 2 mm, straight;
paleas about equal to the lemmas, keels straight below the apices, smooth or scabrous proximally, sometimes hairy, scabrous distally, intercostal region glabrous or with hairs, apices 0.2-0.3 mm wide;
anthers (2.5)3-6 mm.
often differing in length by more than 5 mm, sometimes vestigial to absent from the upper spikelets or throughout, 0-15(20) mm long including the undifferentiated awns, indurate at the base, 0.1-0.3 mm wide, setaceous to subulate, entire, 0-1-veined, glabrous, margins firm, awns often outcurving;
lemmas 8-10 mm, usually hairy, occasionally glabrous, awns (10)20-30(35) mm, slightly to strongly outcurving at maturity;
paleas 7-9 mm, obtuse to truncate, sometimes emarginate;
anthers 2.5-3 mm, evident in June.
= 28.
= unknown.
Elymus lanceolatus
Elymus churchii
Elymus lanceolatus grows in sand and clay soils and dry to mesic habitats. It is found primarily in the western half of the Flora region, between the coastal mountains and 95° W longitude, with the exception of E. lanceolatus subsp. psammophilus, which extends around the Great Lakes. Three subspecies are recognized, primarily on the basis of their lemma and palea pubescence.
Elymus lanceolatus is primarily outcrossing, and hybridizes with several species of Triticeae. Elymus albicans (p. 334) is thought to be derived from hybridization with the awned phase of Pseudoroegneria spicata (p. 281). Judging from specimens of controlled hybrids, hybridization with E. trachycaulus (p. 321) and unawned plants of P. spicata probably occur, but would be almost impossible to detect without careful observation in the field. Experimental hybrids are partially fertile, and capable of backcrossing to either parent (Dewey 1965, 1967, 1968, 1975, 1976).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Elymus churchii grows in dry, rocky, often relatively base-rich soils, in open woods on ridges, and on bluffs and river banks. Its range includes the central Ouachita Mountains and the western Ozark Mountains in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.
Elymus churchii used to be included in E. interruptus (p. 306) (Steyermark 1963; Smith 1991). It is similar to the more eastern, disjunct E. svensonii (see previous), from which it differs in its more open spikes, longer awns, fewer florets per spikelet, and less pubescent, less glaucous foliage. Like E. svensonii, E. churchii may have originated from hybridization between E. canadensis (p. 303) and E. hystrix (p. 316); occasional intermediates with both species exist (Campbell 2002).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Lemmas densely hairy, hairs flexible, some 1 mm long or longer | subsp. psammophilus |
1. Lemmas glabrous or with stiff hairs shorter than 1 mm. | → 2 |
2. Lemmas with hairs, not scabrous | subsp. lanceolatus |
2. Lemmas smooth, sometimes scabrous distally, mosdy glabrous, sometimes the lemma margins hairy proximally | subsp. riparius |
BC
OR
WA
CalFlora
Flora NW
IL Wildflowers
MI Flora
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
MO Plants
