Elymus elymoides

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Elymus elymoides
Elymus elymoides NPS-1.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Genus: Elymus
Species:
E. elymoides
Binomial name
Elymus elymoides
Synonyms

Sitanion hystrix

Elymus elymoides is a species of wild rye known by the common name squirreltail. This grass is native to most of North America west of the Mississippi River and occurs in a number of ecosystems, from the alpine zone to desert sage scrub to valley grassland.

Contents

Elymus elymoides early-season spike close Elymus elymoides squirrel-tail grass close.jpg
Elymus elymoides early-season spike close

Description

Elymus elymoides is a perennial bunch grass growing to around 0.5 metres (20 in) in height. Its erect solid stems have flat or rolled leaf blades. The inflorescence is up to 15 centimetres (5.9 in) long and somewhat stiff and erect, with spikelets one or two centimeters long not counting the awn, which may be 9 centimeters long and sticks straight out at maturity, making the inflorescence look like a bottlebrush (see main image), and aiding wind dispersal of the seeds. In contrast, the early-season spike is compact and reddish, as in the images at left. [2]

Elymus elymoides clump early-season Elymus elymoides squirrel-tail grass clump early-red.jpg
Elymus elymoides clump early-season

This grass is considered very good forage for sheep. It is best for grazing during the winter, when it is small and green. It becomes less palatable to livestock when its awns grow long and sharp at maturity.

Elymus elymoides clump late-season Elymus elymoides squirrel-tail grass clump late.jpg
Elymus elymoides clump late-season

Economics and competition

The genus Elymus is a part of the Poaceae, the grass family, which is the most economically important plant family to modern human civilization. Evolving 55 million years ago, members of the Poaceae produce wheat, rice, and barley cereal grains. Elymus elymoides (also known as squirreltail) is a specific type of wild rye that experiences competitive forces when introduced to invasive species, such as cheat grass (Bromus tectorum). E. elymoides experiences a decrease in fitness when growing concurrently with B. tectorum, leading to natural selection acting negatively on E. elymoides. This is perhaps best seen in the Great Basin, as the dry environment makes water a limiting resource, resulting in competition over it. B. tectorum's advantages may be due to its ability to re-engineer that particular ecosystem's scarce water supply. [3] B. tectorum affects Elymus multisetus similarly, indicating that the trait causing decreased fitness is shared among the entire genus Elymus. [4]

Competition also occurs between E. elymoides and the invasive crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum). When introduced, crested wheatgrass negatively affects mature E. elymoides, despite being able to effectively compete at the seedling stage. If crested wheatgrass is used in rehabilitation or restoration of a site, then co-planting a native bunch grass, such as E. elymoides, may be helpful in preventing a crested wheatgrass monoculture. Because E. elymoides populations decline when introduced to certain populations, squirreltail may benefit more from a monoculture setting. [5] This characteristic is supported by another species, Elymus nutas. However, although it is successful as a monoculture food source, it results in a reduction of carbon transfer and decreased soil health when grown alone. [6] To preserve a prosperous Elymus elymoides food source, one must take into consideration its effects on the soil when grown alone, and its responses to competitive forces if grown with other plants.

Subspecies

Subspecies include:

Related Research Articles

<i>Bromus tectorum</i> Species of grass

Bromus tectorum, known as downy brome, drooping brome or cheatgrass, is a winter annual grass native to Europe, southwestern Asia, and northern Africa, but has become invasive in many other areas. It now is present in most of Europe, southern Russia, Japan, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, North America and western Central Asia. In the eastern US B. tectorum is common along roadsides and as a crop weed, but usually does not dominate an ecosystem. It has become a dominant species in the Intermountain West and parts of Canada, and displays especially invasive behavior in the sagebrush steppe ecosystems where it has been listed as noxious weed. B. tectorum often enters the site in an area that has been disturbed, and then quickly expands into the surrounding area through its rapid growth and prolific seed production.

<i>Bromus</i> Genus of grasses

Bromus is a large genus of grasses, classified in its own tribe Bromeae. They are commonly known as bromes, brome grasses, cheat grasses or chess grasses. Estimates in the scientific literature of the number of species have ranged from 100 to 400, but plant taxonomists currently recognize around 160–170 species.

<i>Agropyron</i> Genus of grasses

Agropyron is a genus of Eurasian plants in the grass family), native to Europe and Asia but widely naturalized in North America.

<i>Hordeum jubatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Hordeum jubatum, with common names foxtail barley, bobtail barley, squirreltail barley, and intermediate barley, is a perennial plant species in the grass family Poaceae. It occurs wild mainly in northern North America and adjacent northeastern Siberia. However, as it escaped often from gardens it can be found worldwide in areas with temperate to warm climates, and is considered a weed in many countries. The species is a polyploid and originated via hybridization of an East Asian Hordeum species with a close but extinct relative of Californian H. brachyantherum. It is grown as an ornamental plant for its attractive inflorescences and when done flowering for its inflorescence.

<i>Agropyron cristatum</i> Species of grass

Agropyron cristatum, the crested wheat grass, crested wheatgrass, fairway crested wheat grass, is a species in the family Poaceae. This plant is often used as forage and erosion control. It is well known as a widespread introduced species on the prairies of the United States and Canada.

<i>Elymus glaucus</i> Species of North American grass

Elymus glaucus is a species of grass known as blue wild rye or blue wildrye. This grass is native to North America from Alaska to New York to northern Mexico. It is a common and widespread species of wild rye.

<i>Pseudoroegneria spicata</i> Species of grass

Pseudoroegneria spicata is a species of grass known by the common name bluebunch wheatgrass. This native western North American perennial bunchgrass is also known by the scientific synonyms Elymus spicatus and Agropyron spicatum. The grass can be found in the United States, Canada, and Mexico from Alaska and Yukon south as far as Sonora and Nuevo León.

<i>Elymus multisetus</i> Species of flowering plant

Elymus multisetus is a species of wild rye known by the common name big squirreltail.

<i>Elymus scribneri</i> Species of grass

Elymus scribneri is a species of wild rye known by the common names spreading wheatgrass and Scribner's wheatgrass. It is native to much of the western United States and parts of central Canada where it grows in several types of habitat including alpine mountain peaks.

<i>Elymus sierrae</i> Species of grass

Elymus sierrae is a species of wild rye known by the common name Sierra wild rye. It is endemic to the High Sierra Nevada in California and far western Nevada, where it grows in coniferous forest and other mountain habitat generally above 2,200 metres (7,200 ft) in elevation.

<i>Elymus stebbinsii</i> Species of grass

Elymus stebbinsii is a species of wild rye known by the common name Parish wheatgrass. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the forests and chaparral of many of the coastal and inland mountain ranges. It is a perennial grass growing up to 1.2 meters tall. The inflorescence is a narrow, linear series of single-spikelet nodes up to 25 centimeters long. Each spikelet is up to 2 centimeters long with a short awn of just a few millimeters.

<i>Elymus trachycaulus</i> Species of flowering plant

Elymus trachycaulus is a species of wild rye known by the common name slender wheatgrass. It is native to much of North America. It grows in widely varied habitats from northern Canada to Mexico, but is absent from most of the southeastern United States.

<i>Elymus virginicus</i> Species of grass

Elymus virginicus, or Virginia wildrye, is a perennial bunchgrass located in Virginia and the eastern United States. Virginia wild rye is one of the few cool season native grasses found in the east Texas area. It is extremely palatable to livestock and will decrease without proper grazing management. It spreads via seed and tillering. It can be confused with Canadian wild rye which is a more robust plant with longer awns. It should be cut early in the season when used for hay to avoid ergot contamination. Northern Missouri Germplasm Virginia wild rye was released in 1999 by the Missouri Plant Material Center for use in northern Missouri.

<i>Taeniatherum</i> Genus of grasses

Taeniatherum is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the grass family.

<i>Mirabilis macfarlanei</i> Species of flowering plant

Mirabilis macfarlanei is a rare species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common name MacFarlane's four o'clock. It is native to Idaho and Oregon in the United States, where it is only known from three river canyons. It faces a number of threats and is federally listed as a threatened species of the United States.

<i>Elymus lanceolatus</i> Species of grass

Elymus lanceolatus is a species of grass known by the common names thickspike wheatgrass and streamside wheatgrass. It is native to North America, where it is widespread and abundant in much of Canada and the western and central United States. There are two subspecies, subsp. lanceolatus occurring throughout the species' range and subsp. psammophilus occurring in the Great Lakes region.

<i>Elymus hoffmannii</i> Species of grass

Elymus hoffmannii is a species of grass known by the common name RS wheatgrass. It was described as a new species in 1996. It became known to science when some grasses were collected in Turkey in 1979 and one type was successfully bred out, proving to be a natural hybrid. E. hoffmannii is derived from this hybrid between Elymus repens and the bluebunch wheatgrasses of Turkey, such as Pseudoroegneria spicata.

<i>Elymus wawawaiensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Elymus wawawaiensis is a species of grass known by the common name Snake River wheatgrass. It is native to western North America, where it occurs in the Pacific Northwest. It is native to eastern Washington and Oregon and parts of Idaho.

<i>Elymus caninus</i> Species of grass

Elymus caninus, the bearded couch or bearded wheatgrass, is a species of flowering plant in the family Poaceae that is native to Europe including the UK but can be found introduced in the US states of Oregon and Washington. E. caninus has been observed in two morphotypes; the first population being "pauciflorum," with the second being "caninus."

References

  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  2. Cathy Rose, Stephen Ingram (2015). Rock Creek Wildflowers. California Native Plant Society Press.
  3. Ferguson, Scot D.; Leger, Elizabeth A.; Li, Jun; Nowak, Robert S. (2015). "Natural selection favors root investment in native grasses during restoration of invaded fields". Journal of Arid Environments. 116: 11–17. Bibcode:2015JArEn.116...11F. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2015.01.009.
  4. Perkins, L.; Hatfield, G. (2014). "Competition, legacy, and priority and the success of three invasive species". Biological Invasions. 16 (12): 2543–2550. doi:10.1007/s10530-014-0684-3. S2CID   14051865.
  5. Nafus, A.; Svejcar, T.; Ganskopp, D.; Davies, K. (2015). "Abundances of Coplanted Native Bunchgrasses and Crested Wheatgrass after 13 Years". Rangeland Ecology & Management. 68 (5): 211–214. doi:10.1016/j.rama.2015.01.011. S2CID   56435195.
  6. Zhao, L., Chen, D., Zhao, N., Li, Q., Cheng, Q., Luo, C., . . . Zhao, X. (2015). Responses of carbon transfer, partitioning, and residence time to land use in the plant–soil system of an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Biol Fertil Soils Biology and Fertility of Soils, 781-790. Retrieved November 1, 2015.