Elymus
Family: Poaceae
Elymus image
  • FNA
  • Gleason & Cronquist
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Mary E. Barkworth, Julian J.N. Campbell, Bjorn Salomon. Flora of North America
Plants perennial; sometimes cespitose, with or without rhizomes, sometimes stoloniferous. Culms 8-180(220) cm, usually erect to ascending, sometimes strongly decumbent to prostrate, usually glabrous. Leaves usually evenly distributed, sometimes somewhat basally concentrated; sheaths open for most of their length; auricles often present; ligules membranous, truncate or rounded, sometimes acute, entire or erose, often ciliolate; blades 1-24(25) mm wide, abaxial surfaces usually smooth or scabrous, sometimes with hairs, adaxial surfaces scabrous or with hairs, particularly over the veins, usually with unequal, not strongly ribbed, widely spaced veins, sometimes with equal, strongly ribbed, closely spaced veins. Inflorescences spikes, usually exserted, with 1-3(5) spikelets per node, internodes (1.5)2-26 mm; rachises with scabridulous, scabrous, or ciliate edges. Spikelets usually appressed to ascending, sometimes strongly divergent or patent, with 1-11 florets, the distal florets often reduced, the lowest florets usually functional, sterile and glumelike in some species; disarticulation usually above the glumes and beneath each floret, sometimes also below the glumes or in the rachises. Glumes usually 2, absent or highly reduced in some species, usually equal to subequal, sometimes unequal, usually linear-lanceolate to linear, setaceous, or subulate, sometimes oblanceolate to obovate, (0)1-7-veined, sometimes keeled over 1 vein, not necessarily the central vein, the keel vein sometimes extended into an awn; lemmas linear-lanceolate, obscurely 5(7)-veined, apices acute, often awned, sometimes bidentate, teeth to 0.2 mm, sometimes with bristles, bristles to 10 mm, awns terminal or from the sinus, straight or arcuately divergent, not geniculate; paleas from shorter than to slightly longer than the lemmas, keels scabrous or ciliate, at least in part; anthers 3, 0.7-7 mm. Caryopses with hairy apices. x = 7. Haplomes St, H, Y, P. Name from the Greek elyo, -rolled up-, the caryopses being tightly embraced by the lemma and palea.
Vascular plants of NE US and adjacent Canada
Spikelets (1)2(-4) at each node of the spike, (1)2(-6)-fld, eventually disarticulating above (seldom below) the glumes and between the florets; glumes often narrow and awn-like, often displaced to form a false invol beneath the spikelets, seldom much reduced or even wanting; rachilla commonly twisted at base, bringing the florets into ±dorsiventral alignment with the axis; lemma long-awned or seldom awnless; self-pollinating perennial bunch-grasses with mostly flat lvs, short ligules, and small anthers, these mostly 1-3(-3.5) mm. (Hystrix, Sitanion) 75, N. Hemisphere.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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Species within inventory project: Intermountain Regional Herbarium Network
Elymus albicans
Image of Elymus albicans
Elymus canadensis
Image of Elymus canadensis
Elymus curvatus
Image of Elymus curvatus
Elymus elymoides
Image of Elymus elymoides
Elymus glaucus
Image of Elymus glaucus
Elymus hoffmannii
Image of Elymus hoffmannii
Elymus lanceolatus
Image of Elymus lanceolatus
Elymus multisetus
Image of Elymus multisetus
Elymus repens
Image of Elymus repens
Elymus scribneri
Image of Elymus scribneri
Elymus sierrae
Image of Elymus sierrae
Elymus trachycaulus
Image of Elymus trachycaulus
Elymus violaceus
Image of Elymus violaceus
Elymus wawawaiensis
Image of Elymus wawawaiensis
Elymus x pseudorepens
Image of Elymus x pseudorepens
Elymus × saundersii
Image of Elymus × saundersii