Canada wild rye (Elymus canadensis)

Description

Elymus canadensis is a species of wild rye known by the common name Canada wild rye. This grass is native to much of North America, being most abundant in the central plains and Great Plains. It grows in a number of ecosystems, including riparian woodlands, many types of forest, lakeside sand dunes, and tallgrass prairie. Canada wild rye is a perennial bunchgrass reaching heights of 1 to 1.5 metres (3 ft 3 in to 4 ft 11 in). It grows from a small rhizome, forms a shallow, fine root network, and is a facultative mycotroph, receiving about 25% of its nutrients on average from symbiotic mycorrhizae. Its stems are hollow and tough at maturity and bear rough, flat leaves reaching 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 in) in length. The inflorescence is a nodding spike up to 25 cm (10 in) long containing 5 to 20 spikelets. Each spikelet is 1 to 2 cm (1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in) long, not counting the sharp, hard, curling awn which may exceed 3 cm (1 1⁄4 in) in length. Canada wild rye is sometimes used for stabilizing eroded areas and for vegetating metal-rich soils in reclaimed mines. Elymus canadensis is an allotetraploid, which mainly reproduces by self-pollination, but can cross-pollinate with several other strains of Elymus in order to provide more genetic variation. In addition, because of its ability to cross-pollinate, new species can emerge through nature or breeding programs, thereby contributing more plants that could potentially lead to novel crops. In fact, the cultivar 'Homestead', one of the few plants that has been produced in cultivation by selective breeding of E. canadensis, has been shown to produce larger amounts of forage, and has higher digestibility than other cultivars of Canada wildrye and Virginia wildrye. The current primary use of 'Homestead' is as a conservation plant, along with its use as keeping the soil next to roads from eroding too much. However, its qualities could potentially lead to further research in creating other cultivars of E. canadensis that could possibly be used as crop plants, with higher food yield and digestibility.