Agropyron fragile (Roth) P. Candargy
Siberian wheatgrass
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Siberian wheatgrass
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial, tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems 30-80 cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths open, the lower ones smooth to somewhat long-hairy or soft-hairy; blades soft-hairy on the upper surfaces, flat, 2-5 (10) mm wide; ear-shaped lobes at the leaf-bases slender, about 1 mm long; ligules jagged and more or less fringed with fine hairs, scarcely 1 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a dense, more or less cylindrical spike, 6-10 cm long, the rachis smooth or hairy, spikelets closely graduated but greater than 1 mm between them, appressed, forming an angle of less than 30degree with the rachis, mostly 5- to 7- (8-) flowered, (5) 7-12 (15) mm long, separated by rachis internodes (1.5) 2.5-3.5 (5) mm long; glumes 5-7 mm long, short-awned; lemmas 6-8.5 mm long, sharp-pointed or short-awned, the awns less than 1 mm long.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Yellow
Blooming Period:
Mid Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Agropyron fragile
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
926 | 330 | 1290 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
8 | 0 | 20 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
91 | 50 | 133 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 3 | 5 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
3 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BWBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(1), IDF(1), SWB(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Dry roadsides, fields and waste places in the steppe and montane zones; infrequent in SC and SE BC; introduced from Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Agropyron cristatum subsp. fragile (Roth) A. L÷ve
Agropyron cristatum var. fragile (Roth) Dorn
Agropyron fragile subsp. mongolicum (Keng) D.R. Dewey
Agropyron fragile subsp. sibiricum (Willd.) Melderis
Agropyron fragile var. sibiricum (Willd.) Tzvelev
Agropyron mongolicum Keng
Agropyron sibiricum