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GRASSES OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Heather Stewart, Richard Hebda Major Groups of Grasses Table of Contents Glossary Leymus In Hitchcock's Manual of Grasses of the United States (1951) there was no genus called Leymus -- the members of this genus were included in Elymus, a genus in which the stem axis does not come apart at maturity and has more than one spikelet at each node. The two taxa differ in preferred site characteristics with Leymus growing in open, dry areas, and Elymus growing in moist areas. The leaf blades of Leymus appear to be more strongly and closely ribbed than those in Elymus (Barkworth, 1997). This gives Leymus a stiff, harsh feel as compared to Elymus, which has a softer feel. Douglas et al. (1994) separate Leymus from Elymus based on Leymus having no lemma awns and having rhizomes (Elymus are tufted). There are three species of Leymus in British Columbia: Leymus cinereus, Leymus innovatus and Leymus mollis. Leymus Adapted from Barkworth in Douglas et al. 1994 1a. Plants with a strong rhizome; lemmas obviously and evenly hairy across the back..............................Leymus innovatus 1b. Plants tufted, short or no rhizome; lemmas smooth or with scattered hairs across the back.......................................................................Leymus cinereus Leymus cinereus (Scribn. & Merr.) A. Love Elymus cinereus Scribn. & Merr. Giant Wildrye Plant: Leymus cinereus is a native species that grows to 1-2 m tall. It is a coarse, tufted perennial, with short rhizomes connecting the clumps of grass, which are up to 1 m wide. Flowerhead is a large, stiff spike with three spikelets at each node. Leaves and Stem: The open sheaths are smooth to softly hairy and the auricles are well developed. Stems are hairy at the nodes. The membraneous ligules are 3-7 mm high and softly hairy. Large, tough, flat leaf blades are 10-20 mm wide. Flowerhead and Flowers: The stiff spike flowerhead is 12-20 cm long. Spikelets are sometimes paired but most often occur as three at each node. The nearly equal, narrow glumes are tapered from the base and often as long as the spikelet. Smooth to hairy lemmas have no awn, or may have an awn that is 2-7 mm long. Habitat: Giant Wildrye commonly grows along the saline margins of ponds or seeps and occasionally on dry, gravelly or sandy sites in the steppe or montane zones. In the Columbia Basin region, Giant Wildrye occurs at Cranbrook, Marysville, Radium Hotsprings, Wasa and Canal Flats. Similar Species: Giant Wildrye is similar to Fuzzy-spiked Wildrye (Leymus innovatus), and both species are found in the Columbia Basin region. There is a difference in plant habit and size between the two species. Giant wildrye is tufted and 1-2 m tall, compared to Fuzzy-spiked Wildrye, which is rhizome bearing and 40-100 cm tall. Brayshaw (1999, pers. comm.) believes that Giant Wildrye may also be rhizomatous in disturbed sites. The lemmas of Giant Wildrye are smooth or slightly hairy, whereas those of Fuzzy-spiked Wildrye are always hairy. Leymus innovatus (Beal) Pilger Elymus innovatus Beal Fuzzy-spiked Wildrye Plant: Leymus innovatus is a native species that grows to 40-100 cm tall. It is a tufted perennial with a rhizome, and an erect, soft-hairy spike. Leaves and Stem: The open sheath has short, stiff hairs and the auricles are well developed. The ligules are less than 1 mm long and short-hairy along the upper edge. Stiff, inrolled leaf blades are 2-4 mm wide. The upper leaf surface is rough and the lower leaf surface is smooth. The stems are slightly hairy just below the nodes. Flowerhead and Flowers: The stiff, spikelike flowerhead is 4-9 cm long, and often the lowermost spikelet is widely separated from those above. The stalkless purple spikelets contain three to five flowers. The stiff, hairy glumes are very narrow with 5-12-mm-long awns. Dense, short hairs cover lemmas with awns up to 3 mm long. Habitat: Fuzzy-spiked Wildrye grows in slightly moist to dry meadows and forests in the montane zone -- it is common in British Columbia, east of the Coast-Cascade mountains. In the Columbia Basin region, Fuzzy-spiked Wildrye occurs at Kootenay, Mount Shanks, Mount Granger, Fairmont Hotsprings, Cranbrook, Natal, Windermere Lake and Vermillion Range. Similar Species: Fuzzy-spiked Wildrye is sometimes confused with Blue Wildrye (Elymus glaucus). They are different in that Blue Wildrye has long awns, smooth glumes and lemmas, but does not have a rhizome.

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