IMPORTANT RANGE PLANTS. 29 
up to about August 15, but considerably later in the season, even in 
September, the basal leaf blades, though not the flower stalks, are 
eaten close to the ground by sheep and cattle. Mountain wheat 
grass is cropped in preference to a large number of species. It is 
preferred in the latter part of the season, if not earlier in the year, 
to big bunch grass, though its scattered growth and narrow zonal 
distribution make it less important than the latter. 
A species closely allied botanically to mountain wheat grass is 
red bunch grass (A. flexuosum) , so named on account of its reddish- 
purple panicles and bunched habit of growth (PL XXIII). Its 
prominent awns and loose spikes, however, give a very different 
appearance from the former. It is sometimes mistaken for smooth 
wild rye (PL XXIV) , though very different in structure. In its range 
of distribution, ecological requirements, period of flower stalk pro- 
duction and seed maturity, and in its forage value, red bunch grass 
is very similar to mountain wheat grass, though in most situations it 
does not remain palatable as late in the season. 
Smooth Wild Rye. 
(Elymus glaucus.) 
The species belonging to this genus are generally known as rye 
grasses because of their resemblance to the ordinary cultivated rye. 
There are about 25 species of Elymus, distributed mainly throughout 
the north temperate regions. 
Smooth wild rye is a perennial bunch grass with a strong root system 
capable of withstanding more than the average trampling by stock. 
It grows from 1 to 3 feet in height, the sheaths enveloping the culms 
usually being smooth, the leaves abundant, smooth beneath, some- 
times rough above. The spike, 2 to 5 inches long, is narrow and 
slender, bearing numerous spikelets of three to six flowers. The 
glumes (lowermost empty two scales) are narrow, sharp pointed and 
rigid. The lemmas (upper flowering scales) smooth or slightly rough, 
each bearing a straight rough awn one-fourth to one-half inch in 
length. 
This grass is distributed over a wide altitudinal range. It is most 
abundant in the upper Canadian zone, is fairly common in the lower 
Hudsonian zone, and is found to a limited extent in the Arctic- 
alpine zone. As a rule, its growth is not dense, but affords an abun- 
dance of forage because of its wide distribution. In most cases it is 
merged with mountain bunch grass, short-awned bromegrass, and 
other species characteristically associated with the latter in glades 
and parks. Smooth wild rye seems to be somewhat better able to 
succeed in moister habitats than many of the plants associated with 
it in exposed situations, and yet it withstands drought remarkably 
well. In the drought tests it did not wilt beyond recovery in some 
