Plantae > Tracheophyta > Liliopsida > Poales > Poaceae > Elymus > Elymus smithii

Elymus smithii (Western Wheatgrass)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Pascopyrum is a monotypic genus of grass containing the sole species Pascopyrum smithii, which is known by the common name western wheatgrass, though the common nickname is red-joint wheatgrass, from the red coloration of the nodes. This is a sod-forming rhizomatous perennial grass which is native and common throughout most of North America. It grows in grassland and prairie in the Great Plains, where it is sometimes the dominant grass species. It is the state grass of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
View Wikipedia Record: Elymus smithii

Attributes

Bloom Period [1]  Mid Summer
Drought Tolerance [1]  High
Fire Tolerance [1]  High
Frost Free Days [1]  90 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [1]  Low
Fruit/Seed Begin [1]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [1]  Fall
Growth Form [1]  Rhizomatous
Growth Period [1]  Spring, Summer, Fall
Growth Rate [1]  Rapid
Leaf Type [1]  Deciduous
Lifespan [1]  Perennial
Propagation [1]  Seed
Regrowth Rate [1]  Moderate
Root Depth [1]  20 inches (51 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [1]  Slow
Seed Vigor [1]  Low
Seeds Per [1]  113840 / lb (250974 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [1]  Semi-Erect
Structure [2]  Grass
Vegetative Spread Rate [1]  Moderate
Flower Color [1]  Yellow
Foliage Color [1]  Gray-Green
Fruit Color [1]  Brown
Height [1]  24 inches (0.6 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 2 Low Temperature: -50 F° (-45.6 C°) → -40 F° (-40 C°)
Light Preference [1]  Full Sun
Soil Acidity [1]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [1]  Intermediate
Water Use [1]  Moderate
Screening - Summer [1]  Moderate
Screening - Winter [1]  Porous

Protected Areas

Emblem of

North Dakota
South Dakota
Wyoming

Predators

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 2Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935
♦ 3Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
♦ 4Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 5Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 6Black-tailed Prairie Dog Food Habits and Forage Relationships in Western South Dakota, DANIEL W. URESK, Journal of Range Management Vol. 37, No. 4, July 1984, p. 325-329
♦ 7Lepus townsendii, Burton K. Lim, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 288, pp. 1-6 (1987)
♦ 8Thomomys talpoides, B. J. Verts and Leslie N. Carraway, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 618, pp. 1-11 (1999)
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0