Elymus macgregorii
Elymus bakeri
early wild-rye
Baker's wheatgrass
40-120 cm, erect or slightly decumbent;
nodes 4-8, mostly exposed, glabrous.
30-50 cm tall, 1-2 mm thick, ascending to erect;
nodes glabrous.
evenly distributed;
sheaths usually glabrous, rarely villous;
auricles 2-3 mm, usually purplish black when fresh, sometimes light brown;
ligules shorter than 1 mm;
blades 7-15 mm wide, lax, dark glossy green under the glaucous bloom, adaxial surfaces usually glabrous, occasionally villous.
not basally concentrated;
sheaths glabrous;
auricles 0.3-0.6 mm;
ligules 0.5-1 mm;
blades 12-20 cm long, 2-4 mm wide, stiff, abaxial surfaces smooth, glabrous, adaxial surfaces smooth or scabridulous, veins prominent, closely spaced.
4-12 cm long, (1.7)2.2-3(4)4 cm wide, erect, exserted, with (6)9-16(20) nodes and 2 spikelets at all or most nodes, sometimes with 3 at some nodes;
internodes 4-7 mm long, about 0.3 mm thick and 2-angled at the thinnest sections, usually glabrous or scabridulous beneath the spikelets.
8-12 cm long, 4-6 cm wide including the awns, about 1 cm wide excluding the awns, straight, erect or inclined, with 1 spikelet per node;
internodes 5-9 mm long, about 0.8 mm wide, both surfaces glabrous, edges ciliate.
10-15 mm, strongly divergent, glaucous, maturing to pale yellowish brown, with (2)3-4 florets, lowest florets functional;
disarticulation below the glumes and each floret, the lowest floret often falling with the glumes.
10-19 mm long, about twice as long as the adjacent internodes, 4-10 mm wide, appressed, with 4-5 florets;
rachillas scabrous or hirtellous;
disarticulation above the glumes, beneath each floret.
subequal, entire, the basal 1-3 mm terete or subterete, indurate, without evident venation, moderately bowed out, glume bodies 8-16 mm long, 1-1.8 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, widening or parallel-sided above the base, (2)4-5(8)-veined, usually glabrous, occasionally hirsute, sometimes scabrous, margins firm, awns (10)15-20(25) mm, straight except the awns of the lowest spikelets occasionally contorted;
lemmas 6-12 mm, usually glabrous, sometimes scabrous, occasionally villous, awns (15)20-30 mm, straight;
paleas 6-10 mm, apices obtuse;
anthers 2-4 mm.
7-12 mm long, 1.4-2 mm wide, narrowly oblong, usually green or green tinged with purple, the bases evidently veined or indurate for less than 0.5 mm, 5-veined, veins scabrous, margins narrow, widest distally, apices acute, sometimes bifid, awned, awns 2-8 mm, straight or divergent;
lemmas scabrous or smooth, apices often shortly bidentate, awns 10-35 mm, arcuate to recurved;
paleas equaling or slightly longer than the lemmas, tapering to the 0.2-0.4 mm wide apices;
anthers 0.8-1.5 mm.
usually mid-May to mid-June.
= 28.
= 28.
Elymus macgregorii
Elymus bakeri
Elymus macgregorii grows in moist, deep, alluvial or residual, calcareous or other base-rich soils in woods and thickets, mostly east of the 100th Meridian in the contiguous United States. It used to be confused with E. glabriflorus (p. 296) or E. virginicus (p. 298), but it reaches anthesis about a month earlier than sympatric populations of these species. In most of its range, E. macgregorii has purplish black auricles; light brown auricles may be locally abundant, particularly in populations at the limits of its range.
Elymus macregorii hybridizes with several species, but especially E. virginicus and E. hystrix (p. 316) (Campbell 2000). Western plants often have smaller, more condensed spikes and distinctly villous leaves, suggesting a transition to E. virginicus var. jejunus (p. 300). Transitions to E. virginicus var. jejunus can also be recognized to the north, where the dates of anthesis are delayed, but even in Maine, E. macgregorii reaches anthesis about 10 days earlier than E. virginicus (Campbell and Haines 2002). Plants with villous lemmas grow at scattered locations; they have not been reported in distinct habitats, nor in large enough populations to warrant taxonomic recognition.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Elymus bakeri grows in high, but not alpine, mountain meadows of Colorado and northern New Mexico. It resembles the awned phase of Pseudoroegneria spicata (p. 281), but differs in having rather thicker culms and spikes, and stouter lemma awns. W.A. Weber (University of Colorado, pers. comm., ca. 1999) stated that it often forms large stands in Colorado.
Reports of Elymus bakeri from Idaho appear to be based on fertile hybrids of E. trachycaulus (p. 321) or E. violaceus (p. 324) with Pseudoroegneria spicata; that for Wallowa County, Oregon, on a specimen of E. glaucus (p. 306).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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