13. Elymus Canadensis L. Nodding Wild Rye. Canada Lyme-Grass

Fig. 712

Elymus canadensis L. Sp. PL 83. 1753.

Elymus glancifolius Willd. Enum. 1: 131. 1809.

Elymus canadensis var. glancifolius Torr. Fl. U. S. I:

137. 1824. Elymus robustus Scribn. & Sm. Bull. U. S. Dep. Agr.

Agric. 4: 37. 1897.

Culms 2 1/2°-5° tall, erect, simple, smooth and glabrous. Sheaths usually overlapping; ligule very short; blades 4'-1° long or more, 2"-10" wide, rough, sometimes glaucous; spike 4'-i2' in length, broad, stout, often nodding, its peduncle much ex-serted; spikelets divergent from the rachis, 3-5-flowered; empty scales narrowly lanceolate, rigid, 3-5-nerved, 8"-16" long, including the long slender rough awns; flowering scales 4"-7" long, hirsute, bearing a slender scabrous straight or divergent awn 10"-25" in length.

On river banks, Nova Scotia to Alberta and Washington, south to New Jersey, West Virginia, Missouri and Arizona. Ascends to 2100 ft. in Virginia. July-Aug.

14. Elymus Brachystachys Scribn. & Ball. Short-Spiked Wild Rye

Fig. 713

Elymus brachystachys Scribn. & Ball, Bull. U. S. Dep. Agr. Agrost. 24: 47. f. 21. 1901.

Culms 1°-3° tall, erect; sheaths glabrous; blades up to 8' long, 3"-6" wide, rough, or sometimes smooth below; spike 3'-6' long, 1'- 1 1 /2' in diameter, long-exsertcd; spikelets 3-5-flowered, in pairs, the empty scales hispidulous, flat, narrowly lanceolate, 3-5-nerved, attenuate into a hispidulous awn about three times their length, the flowering scales glabrous or hispidulous, bearing an awn 10"-20" long.

Moist grounds, Maryland to Michigan, South Dakota, Texas and Mexico. July and Aug. Figured in our first edition as E. canadensis L. from which it is now distinguished.

15. Elymus Striatus Willd. Slender Wild Rye. Dennett-Grass

Fig. 714

Elymus striatus Willd. Sp. PL 1: 470. 1797. Elymus striatus var. villosus A. Gray, Man. 603. 1848. Elymus striatus Ballii Pammel, la. Geol. Surv. Suppl. Rep. 1903: 347. 1904.

Culms 2°-3° tall, erect, slender, simple, smooth, glabrous. Sheaths usually shorter than the inter-nodes, glabrous or hirsute; ligule very short; leaves 5'-9' long, 2"-5" wide, smooth or slightly rough beneath, pubescent above; spike 21 /2'- 4 1/2' in length, broad, slender, dense; spikelets -divergent from the rachis, 1-3-flowered; empty scales awl-shaped. 9"-12" long, including the slender rough awn, 1-3-nerved, hirsute; flowering scales about 3" long, hirsute, bearing a slender rough awn 8" - 15" in length.

In woods and on banks. Maine to North Dakota, North Carolina and Texas. Spike often nodding. June-July.