''Leymus angustus'' is a species of
grass
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
known by the common name Altai wildrye. It is native to Asia
and Europe
[''Leymus angustus''.]
USDA NRCS Plant Guide. and it is cultivated elsewhere as a pasture grass,
[ especially in Canada.][''Leymus angustus''.]
Grass Manual Treatment.
This rhizomatous
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...
perennial grass produces stems up to 1.2 metres tall. The leaves are mostly located around the base of the stems. The stiff, waxy-textured leaf blades are up to 20 cm long.[ They are light green to blue in color.][ The ]inflorescence
In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
is a spike up to 25 cm long by 1 wide. Each spikelet is one or two centimetres long and contains 2 or 3 flowers.[
In its native habitat this grass grows in alkaline meadows and on sandy and gravelly valleys.][ It is tolerant of some ]salinity
Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...
and it can be planted on saline substrates.[
The grass is cultivated as a forage for livestock. It grows for a long time, from spring to fall, and it provides forage into the winter. It is difficult to make into ]hay
Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...
, however. It establishes slowly but it competes well with weeds once established. There are several cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s available, including 'Eejay', 'Prairieland', 'Mustang', and 'Pearl'.[
]
References
External links
USDA Plants Profile for ''Leymus angustus''
— ''invasive plant species in U.S.''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3336502
angustus
Grasses of Asia
Grasses of China
Grasses of Russia