''Elymus hystrix'', known as eastern bottlebrush grass, or bottle-brush-grass, is a

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial ...

in the grass family,

Poaceae 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 ...

. It is native to the Eastern United States and

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of the Hudson Bay/Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newfoundland and Labrador, ...

Description

''Elymus hystrix'' is a

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

with alternate, simple

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

, on erect stems. The flowers are white and bloom in spring. ''Elymus hystrix'' ranges from approximately two and a half to four and a half feet in height. There are usually two spikelets at each of the five to nine

node In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics *Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph *Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, lines, ...

s of the plant. Unlike some similar native grasses, the blades of ''Elymus hystrix'' do not have

glumes In botany, a glume is a bract (leaf-like structure) below a spikelet in the inflorescence (flower cluster) of grasses (Poaceae) or the flowers of sedges (Cyperaceae). There are two other types of bracts in the spikelets of grasses: the lemma and ...

surrounding its spikelets. ''Elymus hystrix'' is

self-compatible Self-incompatibility (SI) is a general name for several genetic mechanisms that prevent self-fertilization in sexually reproducing organisms, and thus encourage outcrossing and allogamy. It is contrasted with separation of sexes among individuals ...

; that is, it can reproduce using its own

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

. ''Elymus hystrix'' is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

meaning it does not completely die at the end of each season, but comes back the next year. ''Elymus hystrix'' has four copies of its

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ge ...

, exhibiting a type of polyploidy called

tetraploidy Polyploidy is a condition in which the biological cell, cells of an organism have more than one pair of (Homologous chromosome, homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have Cell nucleus, nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they ha ...

Taxonomy

''Elymus hystrix'' was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1753. It was transferred to the new genus ''Hystrix'' as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

''Hystrix patula'' by

Conrad Moench Conrad Moench (sometimes written Konrad Mönch; 15 August 1744 – 6 January 1805) was a German botanist, professor of botany at Marburg University from 1786 until his death. He wrote 'Methodus Plantas horti botanici et agri Marburgensis' in 179 ...

in 1794.

Genomic Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dim ...

studies from the 1960s onwards showed that it does in fact belong in ''Elymus''.

Distribution and habitat

''Elymus hystrix'' is found in the United States east of the Great Plains as well as in Eastern Canada. It is usually found in rocky, wet, and partially shaded habitat such as near rivers, creeks, or woods. ''Elymus hystrix'' does not grow well in heavily shaded areas and often inhabits the regions on the edge of shaded wooded areas such as forests. Growth of ''Elymus hystrix'' appears to be inhibited by excess shade, but is relatively resistant to soil compaction when compared to other herbaceous plant species.

Potential as a food crop

''Mus musculus'', or mice, feed on ''Elymus'' seeds. It is reasonable that through domestication and enhancement of seed size and nutritional value seeds of ''Elymus hystrix'' could be useful for consumption by other

vertebrates Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

such as humans. Similar species of grasses are eaten by

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

throughout the United States. Other ''Elymus'' species have been found to be high in crude protein when compared to other native grasses, but research is needed to investigate whether specifically ''Elymus hystrix'' also exhibits this trait. It is also not immediately evident how nutritious the

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

grassy portion of the plant would be to humans, but potential for ''Elymus hystrix'' as a food source for livestock is also of interest.

Ecology

It is a larval host to the northern pearly eye.The Xerces Society (2016), ''Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects'', Timber Press.

References