MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



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thick; ligule 2 to 5 mm long; blades firm, strongly nerved, flat, as 

 much as 2 cm wide; spike erect, usually dense, 15 to 30 cm long, some- 

 times compound; spikelets often in threes to fives; glumes subulate, 

 awn-pointed, usually 1-nerved or nerveless, about as long as the first 

 lemma; lemmas glabrous to sparsely strigose, 

 awnless or mucronate. 91 — -Dry plains, 

 slopes, sand hills, and along gullies and ditches 

 up to medium altitudes, Minnesota to British 

 Columbia, south to Colorado, New Mexico, 

 and California (fig. 492). On the coast of Cali- 

 fornia there is a form with robust culms as much 

 as 3 m tall, compound spikes as much as 30 cm 

 long and 4 cm thick, the ascending compound 

 branches sometimes 6 cm long. This form usually has pronounced 

 rhizomes; possibly distinct. Elymus condensatus var. pubens 



Piper (E. cinereus Scribn. 



and Merr.) Sheaths and 



blades harsh-puberulent. 91 



— Washington, Nevada, and 



California. The seeds are 



sometimes used for food by 



the Indians. 



Figure 488.— Distribution of 

 Elymus triticoid.es. 



Figure 489.— Elymus 

 ambiguus, X 1. (Hitch- 

 cock 10990, Colo.) 



Figure 490.— Elymus 

 salina, X 1. (Rydberg 

 2041, Wyo.) 



Figure 491.— Elymus conden- 

 satus, XI. (Butler 839, Calif.) 



12. Elymus glaucus Buckl. Blue wild-rye. (Fig. 493.) 

 Culms in loose to dense tufts, often bent at base, erect, 60 to 120 cm 

 tall, without rhizomes, leafy; sheaths smooth or scabrous; blades flat, 



usually lax, mostly 8 to 15 mm wide, usually 

 scabrous on both surfaces, sometimes narrow 

 and subinvolute; spike long-exserted, from 

 erect to somewhat nodding, usually dense, 

 commonly 5 to 20 cm long, occasionally 

 longer; glumes lanceolate at base, 8 to 15 mm 

 long, with 2 to 5 strong scabrous nerves, 

 acuminate or awn-pointed; lemmas awned, the 

 awn 1 to 2 times as long as the body, erect to 

 spreading. 91 — Open woods, copses, and dry hills at low and medi- 

 um altitudes, Ontario and Michigan to southern Alaska, south through 

 South Dakota and Colorado to New Mexico and California ; Missouri 



Figure 492.— Distribution of 



Elymus condensatus. 



