Eremopyrum bonaepartis (Spreng.) Nevski

Two varieties of Eremopyrum bonaepartis are commonly recognised: var. bonaepartis has glabrous lemmas; var. sublanuginosum has hairy lemmas. Such varieties, however, are seldom of much significance in grasses. Another variant, var. pakistanicum, has shortly hairy lemmas but very long spikelets. Melderis transferred it to his Eremopyrum confusum at one point, but despite the length of the glumes (up to 20 mm) they are not convincingly awned.

1300-2200 m.

Culms geniculate and somewhat purple tinged near base, 5–30 cm tall, pubescent below spike. Leaf sheath not inflated on upper leaves, or slightly dilated on uppermost leaf, glabrous or rarely puberulent, scabrous; leaf blade green, 0.2–0.5 cm wide, scabrous. Spike green or faintly colored, ovoid lobed, 2–4.5 × 1.5–2.5(–2.8) cm. Spikelets divergent, pectinately arranged, closely pressed to each other, lax at maturity, 12–15 mm, with 3–5 florets, glabrous. Glumes linear, laterally strongly compressed, 9–14 mm, shorter than spikelet, apex gradually tapering to subulate tip. Lemma linear-lanceolate, 12–14 mm, glabrous, apex gradually tapering to awn 1.5–3 mm. Palea shorter and narrower than lemma, shortly thickly ciliate along keels, apex 2-dentate. Fl. and fr. Apr–May.

Tufted annual; culms up to 30 cm high, erect or geniculately ascending. Leaf-blades flat or folded, up to 10 cm long, 1-4 mm wide, scaberulous above, smooth beneath. Spike oblong, 1.5-4 cm long. Spikelets 3-5-flowered, the upper florets ± reduced; glumes lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 6-12 (-20) mm long, awnless; lemma 10-15(-22) mm long, linear-lanceolate, glabrous, scabrid or hairy, often produced at the tip into a short awn up to 3 mm long; palea-keels produced into 2 short blunt teeth with a shallow sinus between them.

Distribution: Pakistan (Baluchistan); Southwest and Central Asia.

Fl. & Fr. Per.: April-May.

A weed in desert and semi-desert zones. Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; E Mediterranean region].

Triticum bonaepartis Sprengel, Erster Nachtr. Bot. Gart. Halle, 40. 1801; Agropyron bonaepartis (Sprengel) T. Durand & Schinz; A. patulum Trinius, nom. illeg. superfl.; A. turkes-tanicum Gandoger; Eremopyrum bonaepartis var. turkestani-cum (Gandoger) Tzvelev; Triticum patulum Willdenow, nom. illeg. superfl.