MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 253 



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. 21 — 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 triticoides. 



'iguee 489.— Elymus 

 ambiguus, X 1. (Hitch- 

 cock 10990, Colo.) 



Figure 490.— Elymus 

 salina, X 1. (Rydberg 

 2041, Wyo.) 



Figure 491.— Elymus conden- 

 satus, X 1. (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 subin volute; 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. % — 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. 



