Relatives

Leymus multicaulis (Kar. et Kir.) Tzvelev - Many-stemmed Lyme-grass.

Taxonomic position.

Family Poaceae Benth. genus Leymus Hochst.

Morphology and biology.

Perennial grass. Rhizomes long, thin, creeping. Culms 50-100 cm tall, glabrous, smooth, only under spike scabrous. Leaves flat or with convolute margins, scabrous above (sometimes also beneath). Spikes 5-12 cm long, linear, dense or with remote spikelets in lower part. Spike rachis with adpressed hairs on ribs. Spikelets by 2-3 on shoulders, green or violet-tinged. Glumes subulate, thin-sharpened, 1-veined, on back and margins with short spinules or scabrous, equal to or slightly shorter or longer than lowermost floret. Lemma broadly lanceolate, glabrous, glossy, sharply narrowed into short (1-3 mm) awn; paleas short- and thin-ciliate on keels. Flowers in May - August. Anemophilous. 2n=28.

Distribution.

Transvolga area, Altai, Central Asia; Northwest China.

Ecology.

In subsaline meadows.

Use and economic value.

Forage grass.

References:

Malyshev LI., Peshkova GA., ed. 1990. Flora of Siberia. V.4. Poaceae (Gramineae). Novosibirsk: Nauka. 361 p. (In Russian).
Tzvelev NN. 1976. Grasses of the Soviet Union. Leningrad: Nauka. 788 p. (In Russian).

© L.L.Malyshev

© Photo by N.Yu.Malysheva, L.L.Malyshev
 

Web design —
Kelnik studios