TAXONOMY AND MORPHOLOGY OF THE ELYMUS-PARVIGLUMIS GROUP (TRITICEAE, POACEAE)

The Elymus parviglumis group, characterized by having relatively small plant size, single spikelets per rhachis node, nodding spikes, and small to medium sized glumes, is revised taxonomically. Previously, a total of twenty seven taxa have been described in this group. In the present treatment, fifteen tetraploid species (2n=4x=28) and one interspecific hybrid are recognized, namely, E. antiquus, E. burchan-buddae, E. sclerus, E. schugnanicus, E. jacquemontii, E. yangii, E. cacuminus, E. retroflexus, E. serotinus, E. altissimus, E. anthosachnoides, E. formosanus, E. longearistatus, E. canaliculatus, E. caucasicus, and E. x russellii. Synonymy, morphological description, cytogenetic data, and a key to these species are presented in this paper.