Elymus stebbinsii
Elymus dahuricus
Parish wheatgrass, Stebbins' wheat grass, Stebbins' wildrye
Dahurian wild rye
60-140 cm;
nodes glabrous or retrorsely pubescent.
30-130 cm, erect;
nodes 4-7, mostly exposed, usually glabrous, occasionally short-hairy.
evenly distributed;
sheaths glabrous or pubescent;
auricles usually present, 0.5-2 mm;
ligules 0.3-3.5 mm, truncate to acute, sometimes long-ciliate;
blades 4-6.5 mm wide, flat or the margins involute, straight.
evenly distributed;
sheaths glabrous;
auricles minute or absent;
ligules 0.5-1 mm;
blades 3-18 mm wide, lax, usually pale green, sometimes glaucous, adaxial surfaces usually smooth or scabrous on the veins, sometimes sparsely pilose.
15-31 cm long, 0.4-1.5 cm wide including the awns, 0.4-0.8 cm wide excluding the awns, erect, with 1 spikelet per node;
internodes 9-27 mm long, 1-1.3 mm wide, glabrous, smooth.
7-23 cm long, 1-2.5 cm wide, usually slightly nodding, sometimes erect, usually with 2 spikelets per node, occasionally with 1 spikelet at some nodes;
internodes 3-6 mm long, 0.2-0.8 mm thick at the thinnest sections, angles usually with scattered hairs.
13-29 mm long, from shorter than to almost twice as long as the internodes, 2.5-5 mm wide, appressed, with 5-7 florets;
rachillas glabrous;
disarticulation above the glumes and beneath each floret.
10-15 mm, appressed to divergent, often purplish, with (2)3-4(5) florets, lowest florets functional;
disarticulation above the glumes, beneath each floret.
subequal, 7.5-12 mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, lanceolate, widest at about mid-length, flat or rounded on the back, 5-veined, veins smooth, scabrous or just the midvein scabridulous, margins widest at about midlength, apices acute, unawned;
lemmas 9-12 mm, glabrous, sometimes scabrous, acute, unawned or awned, awns to 28 mm, straight;
paleas subequal to the lemmas, tapering, apices 0.2-0.3 mm wide;
anthers (3.5)4-7 mm.
equal, the bases flat, not indurate, veins evident, glume bodies 6-9 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, entire, widening or parallel-sided above the base, (1)3-5(7)-veined, veins scabrous, margins hyaline or scarious, awns (0)1-5 mm, straight or outcurving;
lemmas (5)7-11 mm, usually glabrous and smooth throughout, sometimes scabrous to hispid distally and on the margins, marginal hairs not markedly longer than those elsewhere, awns (3)6-17(20) mm, usually somewhat outcurving from near the base;
paleas 7-11 mm, keels spinose-ciliate, apices obtuse or truncate;
anthers 1.5-3.5 mm.
from May to July.
= 28.
= 42.
Elymus stebbinsii
Elymus dahuricus
Elymus stebbinsii is restricted to California, where it grows on dry slopes, chaparral, and wooded areas, at elevations below 1600 m. It differs from other Elymus species primarily in its combination of long anthers and solitary spikelets. It is often confused with E. glaucus (p. 306) and E. trachycaulus (p. 321) with solitary spikelets. It differs from both in its longer anthers, and from most representatives of E. glaucus in its acute, but unawned, glumes.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Elymus dahuricus is widespread in temperate central and eastern Asia. Like E. tsukushiensis (p. 336), it is a hexaploid with an StYH genome constitution. It has been introduced for reclamation in some parts of western North America. It is most likely to be confused with E. glaucus (p. 306), from which it differs in its palea shape. Because its presence in the region became known shortly before completion of this volume, its distribution in the region is not known. Several varieties have been described in Asia; only Elymus dahuricus Turcz. ex Griseb. var. dahuricus has been introduced to North America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Lemmas awned, awns 8-28 mm long; lower leaf sheaths rarely pubescent; spikelets 13-22 mm long | subsp. septentrionalis |
1. Lemmas unawned or with awns to 8(12) mm long; lower leaf sheaths pubescent or glabrous; spikelets 17-29 mm long | subsp. stebbinsii |
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
