252 MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



California, Idaho, Nevada; rare. Elymus triticoides var. simplex 

 (Scribn. and Will.) Hitchc. Usually less than 60 cm tall; blades 

 rather short, involute; spike usually less than 

 10 cm long; spikelets mostly solitary; glumes 

 often rather broad at base. % (E. simplex 

 Scribn. and Will.) — Wyoming and Colorado 

 to California (Tahoe) and eastern Oregon 

 (Harney County). 



9. Elymus ambiguus Vasey and Scribn. 

 (Fig. 489.) Culms few, loosely tufted, erect, 

 30 to 70 cm tall; sheaths glabrous; blades flat 

 to subinvolute, 2 to 5 mm wide, scabrous; spike 

 erect, rather dense, 5 to 15 cm long; spikelets 

 solitary toward the base and apex of the spike, 

 mostly 2- to 4-flowered; glumes subulate, sca- 

 brous toward the awned tip ; lemmas glabrous or 

 scabrous on the back, about 1 cm long, short- 

 awned, the awn 2 to 5 mm long. % — Open 

 slopes at medium altitudes in the mountains, 

 Colorado, rare in Montana and Utah. Elymus 

 ambiguus var. strigosus (Rydb.) Hitchc. Lem- 

 mas strigose or pubescent. % (E. strigosus 

 Rydb., lemmas strigose; E. villiflorus Rydb., 

 lemmas pubescent.) — Wyoming, Colorado. 



10. Elymus salina Jones. Salina wild-rye. 

 (Fig. 490.) Culms erect, 30 to 80 cm tall, some- 

 times scabrous below nodes and below spike; 



sheaths scabrous; 

 blades firm, invo- 

 lute, scabrous, or 

 rarely softly pubes- 

 cent; spike slender, 

 erect, 5 to 12 cm 

 long; spikelets 

 mostly solitary, 

 often rather dis- 

 tant, 1 to 1.5 cm 

 long; glumes sub- 

 ulate, 4 to 8 mm long, sometimes reduced, 

 glabrous or scabrous ; lemmas about 1 cm 

 long, awnless or rarely awn- tipped, gla- 

 brous or scabrous, rarely sparsely strigose, 

 the nerves obscure. Qt — Rocky slopes 

 and sagebrush hills, Wyoming, Idaho, 

 Utah, and Arizona. 



Figure 486.— E lymus hirti- 

 florus, Spike X 1; spikelet, X 

 5. (Type.) 



Figure 487.— Elymus triticoides, X 1. (Cusick 763, Oreg.) 



11. Elymus condensatus Presl. Giant wild-rye. (Fig. 491.) 

 Culms in large tufts, stout, usually 1 to 3 m tall, sometimes puberu- 

 lent, especially below the nodes, the rhizomes when present short and 



