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| Leymus cinereus (Scribn. & Merr.) A. Löve | Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| TAXONOMY | |||||||||||||||
| Family: | Poaceae | ||||||||||||||
| Genus: | Leymus | ||||||||||||||
| Species Synonyms: | Aneurolepidium piperi (Bowden) Baum Elymus cinereus Scribn. & Merr. Elymus cinereus var. pubens (Piper) C.L. Hitchc. Elymus condensatus var. pubens Piper Elymus piperi Bowden |
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| Common Names: | giant wildrye basin wildrye |
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| DISTRIBUTION | |||||||||||||||
| Canada: | British Columbia – southern Alberta – southern Saskatchewan | ||||||||||||||
| Saskatchewan: | southern Saskatchewan; Cypress Hills; Frenchman River Valley – Indian Head | ||||||||||||||
| Ecoregion: | Cypress Upland, Aspen Parkland | ||||||||||||||
| HABITAT | |||||||||||||||
| Saskatchewan: | stream shores and open grassy or brushy slopes | ||||||||||||||
| Canada: | dry prairies, plains, and sand hills | ||||||||||||||
| RARITY STATUS | |||||||||||||||
| Provincial
Status According to Harms (2003): |
Threatened |
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| Nature Conservancy Status: | G5 S1S2 |
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| Saskatchewan
Species at Risk Status: |
None |
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| COSEWIC Status: | None |
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| Leymus cinereus is threatened because it is rare in Saskatchewan. It is regionally restricted to one general region in the province and most populations are small. Possible threats have been identified for this species. | |||||||||||||||
| SPECIES DESCRIPTION | |||||||||||||||
| Height: | 70 – 270 cm | ||||||||||||||
| Roots: | fibrous; rhizomes, if present, short and thick | ||||||||||||||
| Stems: | strongly caespitose, robust, solid, usually bright green, lowest nodes often pubescent | ||||||||||||||
| Leaves: | exceeded by the spikes, 15 – 45 cm long, 5 – 12 mm wide, flat, glabrous above, scabrous below, strongly 11 – 25-nerved; sheaths glabrous or pubescent; ligules 1.5 – 8 mm long, membranous; auricles present, but poorly developed, to 1.5 mm long | ||||||||||||||
| Inflorescence: | spikes 10 – 29 cm long, 1 – 2 cm wide, erect, dense, often interrupted below | ||||||||||||||
| Spikelets: | 2 – 7 per node, 9 – 25 mm long, 3 – 7-flowered | ||||||||||||||
| Florets: | glumes 1 – 2 cm long, subulate, stiff, keeled, awn-pointed; lemmas 6.5 – 12 mm long, glabrous or slightly pubescent, awns 1 – 3 mm long; paleas about the same size as the lemmas | ||||||||||||||
| Fruits: | caryopsis | ||||||||||||||
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