Description: This native perennial grass is about
2½–4' tall with unbranched culms. These culms are terete, light
green, glabrous, and erect. Several alternate leaves occur along the entire
length of each culm. The blades of these leaves are up to 2/3" across and 12"
long; they are medium to dark green, hairless on both sides, and rather floppy.
The leaf sheaths are medium green, open, and usually hairless; less often, they
are
sparsely
short-pubescent. The ligule of each leaf is papery. Each culm terminates in an
erect floral spike about 2-6" long; this inflorescence is densely covered with
ascending spikelets that are sessile, or nearly so. Often, the floral spike is
partially enclosed or barely exerted from the sheath of the uppermost leaf.
Each spikelet has a pair of glumes, a cluster of 2-4 lemmas, and their florets;
The glumes and lemmas are narrowly linear-lanceolate, about 1/3–1/2" long
(excluding the awns), and 1.0–2.5 mm. across at the base; their straight
awns are ½–1¼" long. In var. submuticus, these awns
are absent. The convex exterior of each glume or lemma has 4-5 longitudinal
veins. The anthers of the florets are white or cream-colored. The blooming
period occurs during the summer; the florets of the spikelets are
wind-pollinated. Each fertile lemma produces a single long grain. The root
system is fibrous. This grass forms small tufts of leafy culms through
vegetative offsets; in time, it can form a coarse sod.
Cultivation: This grass prefers full sun to light
shade, moist conditions, and a fertile loamy soil (although other kinds of soil
are readily tolerated). Plants that grow in sunlight tend to be more robust and
a lighter shade of green than those that grow in shade.
Range & Habitat: Virginia Wild Rye is found in
every county of Illinois (see
Distribution
Map); it is quite common. Habitats include deciduous woodlands (especially
floodplain woodlands), bluffs, savannas and sandy savannas, rocky glades, moist
prairies, edges of marshes, and low areas along rivers. This grass can adapt to
moderate levels of disturbance. While it is often characterized as a prairie
grass, Virginia Wild Rye is also common in wooded areas.
Faunal Associations: Various insects feed on
Elymus spp. (Wild Rye grasses). These include the leafhoppers
Dorycephalus platyrhynchus, Elymana acrita, Elymana acuma,
and Laevicephalus orientalis, which suck juices from the foliage; the
flea beetle Chaetocnema pulicaria, the leaf beetle Chalepus
walshii, and the caterpillars of the moth Leucania pseudoargyria
(False Wainscot). Several stink bugs are known to feed on Virginia Wild Rye
(and many other plants), including Brochymena quadripustulata (Rough
Stink Bug), Chinavia hilare (Green Stink Bug), Coenus delia
(Stink Bug sp.; a.k.a. Coenus delius), and Euschistus servus
(Brown Stink Bug). When Virginia Wild Rye grows near wetlands, the seedheads
are sometimes eaten by ducks (the Mallard and Lesser Scaup), while Canada Geese
feed on the foliage. Prior to the development of its awned seedheads, this
grass is also palatable to cattle, horses, and other livestock.
Photographic
Location: A low wooded area at Meadowbrook Park in Urbana,
Illinois.
Comments: Virginia Wild
Rye is highly variable and several varieties have been described. The typical
variety (var. virginicus) has slightly smaller awned glumes and lemmas
(less than 1¼" in length), while the awned glumes and lemmas of var.
glabriflorus exceed 1¼" in length. As already described, var.
submuticus has glumes and lemmas that lack awns. Of these varieties,
var. virginicus is the most common and var. submuticus is the
least common in Illinois. Virginia Wild Rye can be distinguished from other
Elymus spp. (Wild Rye grasses) by its erect spikelets with straight
awns, lack of significant hair on the foliage, and the width of its glumes
(> 1 mm. across). Natural hybrids between Elymus virginicus
glabriflorus and Elymus hystrix (Bottlebrush Grass) have been found
within the state, which prompted the reclassification of the latter species
into the Elymus genus.