Elymus virginicus var. jejunus

(Ramaley) Bush
Endemic
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 24. Treatment on page 300.

Plants usually glaucous, but not strongly so, becoming yellowish or reddish-brown at maturity. Culms (50) 70-100 (130) cm; nodes usually 6-8, often exposed; auricles and ligules often pronounced. Blades 3-15 mm wide, flat, usually scabridulous, rarely pubescent. Spikes 4-20 cm, exserted; spikelets usually glabrous to scabrous, sometimes glaucous; glumes (0.5) 0.7-1.2 (1.8) mm wide, indurate and bowed out only in the basal 1 mm. Anthesis mid-june to late July.

Discussion

Elymus virginicus var. jejunus grows in moist to dry, sometimes alkaline or saline soil, in open, rocky, or alluvial woods, grasslands, glades, and disturbed places. It occupies the western range of the species, except for the Intermountain region. It is uncommon in the northeast, from Virginia to Newfoundland, and rare or absent in the southeast, beyond Texas and Indiana. It intergrades with var. virginicus (with spikes up to 22 cm long in intermediate plants) in the Great Plains, and with E. glabriflorus (p. 296) or E. macgregorii (p. 295) in some southern or eastern regions. Spike exsertion, and thus the ease of distinction from var. virginicus, can be influenced by the environment (Brooks 1974). Some northern populations, from Alberta and North Dakota to Michigan and Quebec, especially on damper soils, have blades that are villous-hirsute and often darker green (e.g., Booher and Tryon 1948). Blades are often only 4—8 mm wide in the Great Plains, and some exceptionally small northern plants (E. virginicus var. micromeris Schmoll) have blades (1)2-4(5.5) mm wide, spikes 3.2-7 cm long, glume awns 1-1.5 mm long, and lemma awns 3.5-13 mm long, suggesting a transition to E. curvatus (see discussion under the next species).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"decumbent" is not a number.

membranous +  and scarious +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
with hairs +  and scabrous +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (?) +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br />) +
bidentate +  and acute +
Mary E. Barkworth +, Julian J.N. Campbell +  and Bjorn Salomon +
(Ramaley) Bush +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (?) +  and 15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (?) +
straight +
basal +  and apical +
from the sinus +  and terminal +
not geniculate +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
3-5(8)-veined +  and sheathed +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
not evident +
scabridulous +
cross +, linear +  and narrowly lanceolate +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
spikelike +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
hairy +  and glabrous +
not branching +
sometimes strongly decumbent +  and prostrate +
erect +  and slightly decumbent +
70 cm700 mm <br />0.7 m <br /> (100 cm1,000 mm <br />1 m <br />) +
not woody +
Conn. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, W.Va. +, Del. +, D.C. +, Wis. +, Alta. +, B.C. +, Man. +, N.B. +, Nfld. and Labr. (Labr.) +, N.S. +, Ont. +, P.E.I. +, Que. +, Sask. +, Mass. +, Maine +, N.H. +, R.I. +, Vt. +, Fla. +, Wyo. +, Ky. +, N.C. +, N.Mex. +, Tex. +, La. +, N.Dak. +, Tenn. +, S.C. +, Pa. +, Va. +, Md. +, Ala. +, Kans. +, Nebr. +, Okla. +, S.Dak. +, Ark. +, Ill. +, Ga. +, Ind. +, Iowa +, Ariz. +, Ohio +, Mo. +, Minn. +, Mich. +  and Miss. +
liquid +, soft +  and hard +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
3 +  and 4 +
laterally compressed +  and terete +
(0)1-7-veined +
shorter than to longer than the adjacent florets +
scabridulous +  and smooth +
subequal +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
0.7mm +  and 1.2mm +
uncinate +
solid +  and hollow +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (?) +
3mm +  and 5mm +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (2.6 cm26 mm <br />0.026 m <br />) +
0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
ciliate +  and scabrous +
distributed +
villous-hirsute +  and glabrous +
scabridulous +
linear-lanceolate +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
stiffly membranous +  and coriaceous +
erose +  and entire +
acute +, rounded +  and truncate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (?) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
lanceolate +
fleshy +  and membranous +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
6 +  and 8 +
2 +  and 1 +
hairy +  and glabrous +
well-developed +
slightly longer +
subequal +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.9 cm9 mm <br />0.009 m <br />) +
dry +  and fleshy +
spikelike +
hirsute +  and glabrous +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (?) +  and 16 cm160 mm <br />0.16 m <br /> (?) +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br />) +
subsessile +  and sessile +
glaucous +, usually glabrous +  and scabrous +
bisexual +  and sterile +
terete +  and compressed +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
simple +  and compound +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
not papillate +
Gramineae +
Elymus virginicus var. jejunus +
Elymus virginicus +
variety +
membranous +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.02 cm0.2 mm <br />2.0e-4 m <br />) +
inconspicuous +
unequal +
reddish-brown +  and yellowish +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +