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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE GRASS FAMILY | |||||||||
| The grass family is economically and
ecologically important. Many of the world’s crops are products of
the grasses. In addition, grasses are represented in almost all terrestrial
ecosystems and are an important part of the natural food chain. The grasses have a set of structures unique to the family. These plants can be annual or perennial and are usually herbaceous. The roots are fibrous, but rhizomes or runners may be found in some species. The stems are solitary or tufted, and may be branched. The stems are round with hollow internodes and solid nodes. The leaves are basal or on the stem. The stem leaves are 2-ranked, meaning they are in two vertical rows and are sheathing at the base. A ligule is present where the leaf sheath and the blade meet. The florets are in spikelets which are then arranged into clusters called spikes, racemes, or panicles. The spikelets usually have two glumes at the base and may be one to several-flowered. Sometimes there are sterile florets, which may consist only of the palea and lemma, present above or below the fertile florets. The florets are usually perfect, meaning that they have both male and female parts. The lemma and palea are the two bracts that subtend each floret. The lemma may be awnless or awned from the tip or the back. Each fertile floret has between one and three stamens and one superior ovary with a feathery stigma. The fruit type is a caryopsis or grain and is unique to the grass family. |
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| SQUIRRELTAIL | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Elymus elymoides ssp. elymoides | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Squirreltail is less than 50 cm tall and grows from fibrous roots. The stems are tufted and hollow. The leaves are flat to rolled under and are ridged above. The leaves have ear-like lobes at the base. The inflorescence is a spike that is as long as 15 cm. The spikes have two spikelets per node. The spikelets each have two or three flowers. The glumes and the lemmas have long, widely spreading awns. The central axis of the inflorescence readily breaks apart at maturity. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Squirreltail grows on dry, eroded, clay banks and benches. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in southwestern Saskatchewan in the Mixed Grassland and Cypress Upland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Squirreltail is threatened because of rarity in Saskatchewan. It is regionally restricted to one general region of the province and is almost always locally sparse. Possible threats have been identified for this species. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY SQUIRRELTAIL | |||||||||
| * Are there 2 spikelets at each node of the central
axis of the spike? * Do the glumes and the lemmas have long awns? * Does the central axis of the spike break apart at maturity? * Did you find in southwestern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found squirreltail! | |||||||||
