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early wild-rye

Mexican wildrye

Habit Plants cespitose, not rhizomatous, usually glaucous. Plants cespitose, not rhizomatous, usually somewhat glaucous.
Culms

40-120 cm, erect or slightly decumbent;

nodes 4-8, mostly exposed, glabrous.

50-110 cm, erect or somewhat geniculate at the base;

nodes 6-9, mostly exposed, glabrous.

Leaves

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.

evenly distributed;

sheaths usually glabrous, occasionally pilose, hairs somewhat retrorse;

auricles about 1 mm, pale or brownish;

ligules about 1 mm, erase;

blades 3-12 mm wide, lax, adaxial surfaces sparsely scabridulous, sometimes hispidulous to pilose on the veins, usually glaucous.

Spikes

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.

4-12 cm long, 2-3 cm wide, erect, the bases sometimes sheathed, with 2 spikelets per node;

internodes 3-6 mm, about 0.2 mm thick at the thinnest sections, with 2 hispid dorsal angles, without green lateral bands.

Spikelets

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.

10-15 mm excluding the awns, 18-30 mm including the awns, appressed, with 3-5(6) florets, lowest florets functional;

disarticulation above the glumes, beneath each floret.

Glumes

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.

subequal, 12-22 mm long including the undifferentiated awns, 0.2-0.3(0.6) mm wide, setaceous, entire, 0-1(2)-veined, tapering from the base, glabrous, margins firm, awns more or less straight;

lemmas 8-10 mm, usually scabrous-hispid or thinly strigose, at least distally, awns 8-22 mm, straight or flexuous;

paleas 7-8 mm, obtuse, often emarginate;

anthers 2.5-4 mm.

Anthesis

usually mid-May to mid-June.

May to June.

2n

= 28.

= unknown.

Elymus macgregorii

Elymus pringlei

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NH; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; NS; ON
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Discussion

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 pringlei grows on moist slopes and canyons, in pine and deciduous tree woods, at 1500-2300 m in the Sierra Madre Orientale of eastern Mexico. This poorly known species is similar to E. texensis (see next) and E. interruptus (p. 306). It is included here because it seems likely that it also grows in southern Texas, having been collected in Coahuila, Mexico, 54 miles from the border, near Big Bend National Park (Campbell 2002).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 295. FNA vol. 24, p. 312.
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. curvatus, E. dahuricus, E. diversiglumis, E. elymoides, E. glabriflorus, E. glaucus, E. hirsutus, E. hoffmannii, E. hystrix, E. interruptus, E. lanceolatus, 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. 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
Name authority R. Brooks & J.J.N. Campb. Scribn. & Merr.
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