BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Leymus innovatus | Boreal Wildrye 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Boreal wildrye is a perennial, native, cool-season grass.  It is
rhizomatous but tends to form clumps.  It is slightly pubescent below
the nodes and inflorescence.  The culms are mostly 16 to 32 inches
(40-80 cm) tall [12].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Boreal wildrye will reproduce either sexually or asexually via rhizomes.
La Roi and Hnatiuk [15] report that it reproduces asexually in low
light.  Pollination and seed dispersal may aided by wind and gravity, as
well as by some animals.


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Boreal wildrye grows in sandy meadows, along streambanks, on rocky
hillsides, and commonly in open lodgepole pine or spruce (Picea spp.)
forests.  It grows in soils that have been described as dry to moist,
fresh (slightly moist) to moderately moist, droughty, and rapidly to
well drained [6,7,9].  It has commonly been reported from upper montane
mesic to submesic sites [7,15].  It has been reported at the following
elevations:

State   elev. (ft)              elev. (m)               reference

AK      540 - 1,440             180 - 480               [5]
BC      3,000 - 5,040           1000 - 1680             [4,26]
AB      3,750 - 5,700           1250 - 1900             [7,15,19,21]
MT      4,140 - 4,600           1380 - 1530             [9]

Boreal wildrye is most commonly found in lodgepole pine forests.  Other
common associates include russet buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis),
bluejoint reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis), rough fescue (Festuca
scabrella), jack pine (Pinus banksia), and white spruce (Picea glauca).
It is frequently competitive with bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
and longtube twinflower (Linnaea borealis) [3,4,5,6,7,15,21].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Boreal wildrye is a midseral species, since it is more likely to be
growing in areas that have been previously burned or disturbed than
areas that have not [25,26].  It is often found on previously burned
sites [7,15,25,26] and has been reported on sites 4 to 100 years after a
fire [5,21].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Boreal wildrye begins to green in March and April in Alberta [28].  It
flowers in June and July [12] and has been reported to remain in flower
until early September in Montana [27].

Related categories for Species: Leymus innovatus | Boreal Wildrye