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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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| SAND-DUNE WHEATGRASS | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Elymus lanceolatus ssp. psammophilus | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Sand-dune wheatgrass grows as tall as 110 cm from a long, creeping rhizome. The stems are hollow and bluish. The leaves are usually rolled under at the margins and often have ear-like lobes at the base. The inflorescence is a compact spike. The central axis of the spike is hairy below the spikelets. At each node, there is only one spikelet. The spikelets are loosely to closely overlapping and contain four to seven flowers. The glumes are broadest above the middle and have five conspicuous nerves. The lemmas are densely hairy and may have an awn. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Sand-dune wheatgrass grows in active sand dune blowouts. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in southern Saskatchewan in the Moist Grassland, Moist Mixed Grassland, and Aspen Parkland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Sand-dune wheatgrass is threatened because it is rare in Saskatchewan and is limited to sandy environments in the southern part of the province. Most local populations are small. Possible threats have been identified but more information is needed on this species. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY BLUE WILDRYE | |||||||||
| * Is there one spikelet at each node of the central
axis of the spike? * Are there ear-like lobes at the base of the leaf? * Are the lemmas densely hairy? * Did you find it on a sand dune in southern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found sand-dune wheatgrass! | |||||||||
