''Thinopyrum obtusiflorum'' is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

known by the common names tall wheatgrass, rush wheatgrass, and Eurasian quackgrass. It is native to Eurasia and it has been introduced to many other parts of the world, including much of the Americas and Australia. This perennial bunchgrass can grow up to 2 meters tall. The ribbed leaves have pale green blades a few millimeters wide. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a spike studded with spikelets up to 3 centimeters long, each containing up to 12 flowers.''Thinopyrum ponticum''.
Grass Manual Treatment. This grass is used as a forage and for hay in many places.''Thinopyrum ponticum''.
USDA NRCS Plant Guide. It is good for land with saline soils, and it can help reduce the salinity. It is also good for non-saline soils.Tall wheat grass.
Western Australia Department of Agriculture and Food. This grass is commonly crossed with its relative,

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, in order to give the wheat traits such as stress tolerance and pest resistance.

Head blight resistance

''Thinopyrum obtusiflorum'' is resistant to ''Fusarium'' head blight, which is caused by ''

Fusarium graminearum ''Gibberella zeae'', also known by the name of its anamorph ''Fusarium graminearum'', is a fungal plant pathogen which causes fusarium head blight (FHB), a devastating disease on wheat and barley. The pathogen is responsible for billions of dolla ...

''. This is due, in part, to the ''Fhb7'' gene. The protein product of the ''Fhb7'' gene detoxifies

trichothecenes The trichothecenes are a large family of chemically related mycotoxins. They are produced by various species of ''Fusarium'', ''Myrothecium'', ''Trichoderma''/''Podostroma'', '' Trichothecium'', ''Cephalosporium'', '' Verticimonosporium'', and '' ...

produced by the fungus, which harm both the plant and any mammals that consume them. Evidence suggests that the ''Fhb7'' gene was acquired from an ''

Epichloë ''Epichloë'' is a genus of ascomycete fungi forming an endophytic symbiosis with grasses. Grass choke disease is a symptom in grasses induced by some ''Epichloë'' species, which form spore-bearing mats ( stromata) on tillers and suppress t ...

'' fungus by

horizontal gene transfer Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the movement of genetic material between Unicellular organism, unicellular and/or multicellular organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offsprin ...

. The ''Fhb7'' gene has been

introgressed Introgression, also known as introgressive hybridization, in genetics is the transfer of genetic material from one species into the gene pool of another by the repeated backcrossing of an interspecific hybrid with one of its parent species. Intr ...

into wheat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Thinopyrum obtusiflorum, from2=Q7784631 obtusiflorum