E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Secale cereale L.
rye (cereal rye)
Poaceae (Grass family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Percy Folkard  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #32590)

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Distribution of Secale cereale
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Species Information

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General:
Annual grass from fibrous roots; stems hollow, mostly 60-150 cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths open; blades flat, (3) 4-10 mm wide; ear-shaped lobes at the leaf-bases fairly prominent; ligules short membranous.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a terminal spike, 8-15 cm long, with spikelets 1 per node; spikelets unstalked, 2-flowered, the florets side by side, the rachilla prolonged between the two; glumes stiff, slender, awl-like, 1-nerved, shorter than the lemmas; lemmas curved, 5-nerved, strongly fringed with fine hairs on the keels and exposed margins, awns mostly 4-7 cm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

USDA Species Characteristics

Flower Colour:
Yellow
Blooming Period:
Early Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Spring to Summer
According to the USDA, this species is a known allelopath.
Source:  The USDA

Habitat / Range

Dry waste areas and roadsides in the steppe and montane zones; rare (and not usually persisting) in S BC in and E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; introduced from Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Secale cereale

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

Minimum

Average

Maximum
Elevation (metres) 932 932 932
Slope Gradient (%) 2 2 2
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W] 		0
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		4 4 4
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class		 D
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:		 1
Modal BEC Zone Class
 IDF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: IDF(1)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Secale montanum Guss., nom. inq.
Secale strictum (C. Presl) C. Presl
Triticum cereale (L.) Salisb.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links


Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
 International Plant Names Index
 Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
 Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Photo Sources

Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
 Google Image Search
 Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
 General Botanical References for BC
Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-05-10 9:38:45 AM ]
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