Blue wildrye is the most common and widely distributed of the western
wildryes (Elymus spp.) [47,90]. It occurs throughout western North
America from Alaska to Ontario southward to New Mexico, northern
Arizona, California, and Mexico. Blue wildrye is rare in the Great Plains
and eastward [19,35,44,94].
206 Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir
208 Whitebark pine
210 Interior Douglas-fir
211 White fir
213 Grand fir
216 Blue spruce
217 Aspen
218 Lodgepole pine
219 Limber pine
221 Red alder
233 Oregon white oak
234 Douglas-fir-tanoak-Pacific madrone
235 Cottonwood-willow
237 Interior ponderosa pine
239 Pinyon-juniper
243 Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
244 Pacific ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir
247 Jeffrey pine
250 Blue oak-foothills pine
255 California coast live oak
Blue wildrye typically occurs as a minor seral component throughout a
wide range of nonforested and forested communities in the western United
States. It reaches its greatest abundance in the woodlands of
the central Rocky Mountains, where it is a common component in quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) and mountain brush communities [1,46]. Classifications listing it as
an indicator or dominant species in vegetation typings are presented below.
Plant communities of the Blue Mountains in eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington [37]
Riparian community type classification of Utah and southeastern Idaho [67]
A vegetation classification system applied to southern California [68]
Foothill oak woodlands of the interior valleys of southwestern Oregon [76]
Common plant associates of blue wildrye in the western United States include alder (Alnus spp.), maple (Acer spp.), sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), brome grasses (Bromus spp.), bluegrasses (Poa spp.), meadow barley (Hordeum brachyantherum), cinquefoil (Potentilla spp.), strawberry (Fragaria spp.), yarrow (Achillea spp.) and asters (Aster spp.) [90].
In Eastern Oregon and Washington common associates are ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) and common snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) [37]. In Utah and Colorado blue wildrye is reported in quaking aspen stands [15,92].
Related categories for
SPECIES: Elymus glaucus
| Blue Wildrye
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Information
Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research
Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System
