CANADA WILD RYE
File Size: 110 KB
 
Elymus canadensis  L.
Riley County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 3-6 feet
Family: Poaceae - Grass Family
Flowering Period:   July, August
Culms: Erect, slender to stout, hollow, glabrous, green or blue-green waxy.
Blades: Flat or rolled inward, 4-16 inches long, .25 to .5 inch wide, slightly narrowed toward bases, midrib prominent beneath, rough or bristly-hairy above; margins fine-toothed; tips tapered to fine points.
Sheaths: Mostly longer than internodes, rounded, usually glabrous; auricles prominent, finger-like, clasping.
Ligules: Short, membranous, entire or notched.
Inflorescences: Spikes, dense, erect or nodding, 3-12 inches long, occasionally interrupted below, terminal.
Spikelets: 1-4 per node, overlapping, slightly spreading, sessile, 2-7-flowered; glumes equal, shorter than first lemma; lemma awns .5 to 1.5 inch long, outward curving at maturity.
Habitat: Moist or dry open prairies, stream banks, ditches, and disturbed areas, more abundant on sandy or rocky soils.
Distribution: Throughout Kansas.
Toxicity: Ergot can infest the inflorescence and is potentially dangerous to livestock.
Forage Value: Canada wild rye is very palatable and nutritious and is readily grazed by livestock. The forage value decreases with age.
Comments: Tufted. Sometimes called "nodding wild rye" because of the arching heads. It is winter hardy and grows as far north as southern Alaska.

Canada wild rye
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Riley County, Kansas
Canada wild rye inflorescence
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Canada wild rye
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Ottawa County, Kansas
Canada wild rye
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Canada wild rye inflorescence
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Marshall County, Kansas
Canada wild rye
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Marshall County, Kansas
Canada wild rye habit
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Riley County, Kansas
Canada wild rye inflorescences
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Riley County, Kansas
Canada wild rye mature inflorescences
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Morris County, Kansas
Canada wild rye inflorescence
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Riley County, Kansas