Ornamental grasses are grasses grown as ornamental plants. Ornamental grasses are popular in many colder hardiness zones for their resilience to cold temperatures and aesthetic value throughout fall and winter seasons.
Elymus canadensis, commonly known as Canada wild rye or Canadian wildrye, is a species of wild rye native to much of North America. It is most abundant in the central plains and Great Plains. It grows in a number of ecosystems, including woodlands, savannas, dunes, and prairies, sometimes in areas that have been disturbed.
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.
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial plants, most species live more than one season. Tussock grasses are often found as forage in pastures and ornamental grasses in gardens.
Calamagrostis canadensis is a species of grass, having three or more varieties, in the family Poaceae. It is known variously by the common names of bluejoint, bluejoint reedgrass, marsh reedgrass, Canadian reedgrass, meadow pinegrass, and marsh pinegrass.
Leymus condensatus, the giant wildrye, is a wild rye grass native to California and northern Mexico.
Leymus cinereus is a species of wild rye known by the common names basin wild rye, Great Basin wild rye, and Great Basin lyme grass.
Leymus triticoides, with the common names creeping wild rye and beardless wild rye, is a species of wild rye. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California and Texas.
Sclerocactus glaucus is a rare species of cactus known by the common name Colorado hookless cactus. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it is known only from the area between Grand Junction and Montrose. It is a federally listed threatened species.
Carex saxatilis is a species of sedge known by the common names rock sedge and russet sedge.
Danthonia compressa is a species of grass known by the common names mountain oatgrass, flattened oatgrass, and slender oatgrass.
Elymus macrourus is a species of grass known by the common names tufted wheatgrass and thickspike wildrye. It is native to northwestern North America in Alaska, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. It is also present in eastern Siberia.
Leymus ambiguus is a species of grass known by the common names Colorado wildrye and Rocky Mountain wildrye. It is native to the Rocky Mountains of the United States, growing mainly on rocky hillsides on the eastern slopes of the mountains in Colorado and New Mexico; it has also been reported from Utah. It is a climax species on the dry grasslands of the Colorado Front Range.
Leymus salina is a species of grass known as Salina wildrye, Salina Pass wild rye, and saline wildrye. It is native to the western United States and is named for its type locality: Salina Pass, Utah.
Psathyrostachys juncea is a species of grass known by the common name Russian wildrye. It was formerly classified as Elymus junceus. It is native to Russia and China, and has been introduced to other parts of the world, such as Canada and the United States. Psathyrostachys juncea is a great source of food for grazing animals, as it has high nutrition value in its dense basal leaves, even in the late summer and autumn seasons. This species can grow and prosper in many harsh environments, making it an ideal candidate for improvement as it can grow in areas were farming is difficult. This species is a drought-resistant forage plant and can survive during the cool seasons. It is also a cross-pollinator and is self-sterile. This means that P. juncea cannot self-fertilize; it must find another plant of the same species with which to exchange gametes. Self-sterilization increases the genetic diversity of a species.
Schizachyrium tenerum is a species of grass known by the common name slender little bluestem, or slender bluestem. It is native to the Americas, where it occurs in North, Central, and South America. In North America it can be found in the southeastern United States and much of Mexico.
Sisyrinchium sarmentosum is a species of flowering plant in the iris family known by the common names mountain blue-eyed grass and pale blue-eyed-grass. It is native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, where it is known from a part of the Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon.
Leymus angustus is a species of grass known by the common name Altai wildrye. It is native to Asia and Europe and it is cultivated elsewhere as a pasture grass, especially in Canada.
Leymus multicaulis, also known as manystem wild rye or manystem lyme grass, is a species of the genus Leymus. The species name of manystem wild rye, multicaulis, suggests the “many stems” of the species. Leymus multicaulis is considered a type of grass. Manystem wild rye has only one cotyledon in each of its seeds. The xylem and phloem within the roots are arranged in a ring pattern. The vascular bundles are scattered throughout the stem. These traits make Leymus multicaulis a monocot. Leymus multicaulis is a flowering plant, or angiosperm.
Leymus mollis is a species of grass known by the common names American dune grass, American dune wild-rye, sea lyme-grass, strand-wheat, and strand grass. Its Japanese name is hamaninniku. It is native to Asia, where it occurs in Japan, China, Korea, and Russia, and northern parts of North America, where it occurs across Canada and the northern United States, as well as Greenland. It can also be found in Iceland.
