Post on 06-May-2018
transcript
COMMON NAME: LYME GRASS
ALTERNATIVE NAMES: Blue Dune Lyme Grass, Sand Rye Grass, Wild Rye, and Blue Lyme Grass.
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Leymus arenarius; Elymus arenarius
FAMILY: Poaceae
ORIGIN: Northern Europe
US INTRODUCTION: Introduced for ornamental purposes. Lyme Grass is now presentthroughouttheGreatLakesregion.SpecificallyinIllinois,LymeGrasshasbeen documented in Cook, Kane, and Lake County. MAJOR PATHWAYS OF SPREAD:• Ornamental use• Underground stems (rhizomes)• Seed dispersion by various sources• Fast growing and long lived (~10 years)
IDENTIFICATION CHARACTERISTICS:• 32 inches tall and 3 feet wide at maturity
• Leaves are blue/green and grow about 12 inches along and ½ inch wide
• Flowers are blue/green dense spikes during the summer, and turn beige later in the year
• The ideal habitat for Lyme Grass is full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist locations, and is also considered to be drought-tolerant. Lyme grass can grow in a number of soil types or pH levels, and is able to handle environmental salt. Lyme Grass is very tolerant, and is even able to tolerate urban pollution and is able to thrive in inner city environments.
• Grows in soggy thickets and meadows, fens, and roadside ditches
NATIVE LOOK-ALIKES:
• Marram Grass (Ammophila breviligulata): Leaves are distinctly green, not blue/green like in Lyme Grass.
• Streambank Wheat Grass (Elymus lanceolatus): Lyme Grass and Streambank Wheat Grass are very similar in appearance. If the plants are fertile, one can see that Leymus arenariusspikes(flowers)are15-25mmthickandthespikesofElymus lanceolatus are only 5-10 mm thick. Additionally, the leaves in Elymus lanceolatus are thinner than that of Leymus arenarius appear to be hairy, and areparallelveined.Theflowerclusterislongerthanitisbroad.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
University of Wisconsin Green Bay - Cofrin Center for Biodiversityhttp://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/invasive_species/leyare01.htm
Lyme Grass
K. Peters
Lyme Grass Spikes
K. Peters
Marram Grass Streambank Wheat Grass Marram Grass
Halley Royalbroil W. Alverson
www.NewInvaders.org