Blue wild rye
Elymus glaucus
Family: Poaceae
What it is like
A tufted grass. It does not have a creeping rootstock. It grows 1 m high and spreads 50 cm wide. The stems are erect and hairy. The leaves are long, blue and narrow. The glumes and lemmas are smooth. The flowers are in densely packed heads.
There are 150 Elymus species. They are temperate.
Where it is found
It is a temperate plant. It grows in moist alpine meadows in the Rocky Mountains.
Countries/locations it is found in
Australia, Canada, North America, USA
How it is used for food
The seeds are used in pinole. They are parched and pounded into flour.
Edible parts
Seeds, cereal
How it is grown
Plants can be grown by division.