Common names: Bearded wheatgrass
Synonyms: Agropyron caninum
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 24. Treatment on page 322.

Plants cespitose, not strongly rhizomatous. Culms 30-130 cm, erect or geniculate, usually hairy on or below the nodes. Leaves evenly distributed; sheaths glabrous; auricles to 1.5 mm; ligules 0.2-1.5 mm; blades 10-30 cm long, 4-10 mm wide, flat, both surfaces scabrous, adaxial surfaces sometimes with hairs over the veins, hairs to 0.5 mm, veins not prominent, widely spaced. Spikes 5-20 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide including the awns, 5-8 mm wide excluding the awns, erect or arching, with 1 spikelet per node; internodes 4.5-7 mm, edges scabrous or ciliate, both surfaces hairy below the spikelets. Spikelets 10-15 (20) mm long, 2-5 (7) mm wide, appressed to slightly divergent, with 2-6 florets; rachillas scabridulous or pubescent, often more densely pubescent distally; disarticulation above the glumes, beneath each floret. Glumes equal to unequal, 0.6-1 mm wide, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, usually green, flat or weakly keeled, keels eccentric, adaxial surfaces hairy, hairs often inconspicuous, hyaline margins sometimes widest distally, narrowing abruptly to the acute to acuminate apices; lower glumes 8-11 mm, 3-veined, usually awned, awns to 3 mm; upper glumes 10-13 mm, 3-5-veined, sometimes awn-tipped, awns to 0.3 mm; lemmas 9-13 mm, glabrous, smooth to somewhat scabridulous distally, rounded on the back proximally, awned, awns 7-20 mm, straight or flexuous; paleas subequal to the lemmas, keels finely and densely ciliate over most of their length, straight or slightly outwardly curved, tapering to the apices, apices about 0.2 mm wide; anthers 2-3 mm. 2n = 28. Haplomes StH.

Discussion

Elymus caninus is native to Eurasia; it is not known to be established in the Flora region. A.S. Hitchcock (1935, 1951) reported that it had been collected on ballast dumps in Portland, Oregon, but the specimens concerned belong to E. ciliaris (p. 336) and E. tsukushiensis (p. 336). Elymus caninus differs from E. ciliaris and E. tsukushiensis in having flatter glumes that are longer in relation to the lemmas, and palea keels that are straight or almost straight below the apices. Recent reports of its occurrence in the region reflect C.L. Hitchcock et al.'s (1969) treatment, in which E. caninus and E. trachycaulus were treated as conspecific subspecies. Because E. caninus is the older name, it is the correct name to use at the specific rank under such a treatment.

The hairs on the inside of the glumes are difficult to see. Nevertheless, this is the single most reliable morphological character for distinguishing Elymus caninus from all other species of Elymus in this treatment. Elymus caninus is most likely to be confused with awned plants of E. trachycaulus (p. 321). The two species also differ in their molecular characteristics, and in at least one chromosome interchange (Sun et al. 1998).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"decumbent" is not a number.

... more about "Elymus caninus"
membranous +  and scarious +
with hairs +  and scabrous +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
acute +  and acuminate +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
Mary E. Barkworth +, Julian J.N. Campbell +  and Bjorn Salomon +
(L.) L. +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
flexuous +  and straight +
basal +  and apical +
from the sinus +  and terminal +
not geniculate +
0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
not evident +
cross +, linear +  and narrowly lanceolate +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
spikelike +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
hairy +  and glabrous +
Bearded wheatgrass +
not branching +
sometimes strongly decumbent +  and prostrate +
geniculate +
30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br /> (130 cm1,300 mm <br />1.3 m <br />) +
not woody +
Oreg. +  and Wash. +
liquid +, soft +  and hard +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
2 +  and 6 +
laterally compressed +  and terete +
(0)1-7-veined +
shorter than to longer than the adjacent florets +
subtending +
keeled +, flat +, lanceolate +  and narrowly ovate +
unequal +
0.6mm +  and 1mm +
inconspicuous +
uncinate +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br />) +
solid +  and hollow +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (?) +
0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
ciliate +  and scabrous +
tapering +
distributed +
scabridulous +  and smooth to somewhat +
rounded +
0.9 cm9 mm <br />0.009 m <br /> (1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br />) +
stiffly membranous +  and coriaceous +
erose +  and entire +
acute +, rounded +  and truncate +
0.02 cm0.2 mm <br />2.0e-4 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
lanceolate +
fleshy +  and membranous +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (1.1 cm11 mm <br />0.011 m <br />) +
narrowing;widest +
concealed +  and prominent +
2 +  and 1 +
hairy +  and glabrous +
well-developed +
slightly longer +
subequal +
dry +  and fleshy +
spikelike +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (?) +  and 20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br /> (?) +
subsessile +  and sessile +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
bisexual +  and sterile +
terete +  and compressed +
2mm +  and 5mm +
1 +  and 3 +
simple +  and compound +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
not papillate +
Agropyron caninum +
Elymus caninus +
species +
membranous +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.02 cm0.2 mm <br />2.0e-4 m <br />) +
awn-tipped +  and 3-5-veined +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br />) +
not prominent +
unequal +
plant +  and cespitose +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +