Elymus mutabilis (Drobow) Tzvelev

This species is a good forage grass.

Plants ± with rhizome, or if without rhizome then culms tufted. Culms erect, 60–120 cm tall. Leaf blade flat, 10–20 × 0.4–0.7 cm, glabrous. Spike usually dense, 6–20 × 0.4–0.7 cm; rachis margin ciliate; internodes 9–15 mm. Spikelets 1 per node, green, purple, glaucous, or purplish glaucous, 10–20 mm, with 2–5 florets; very shortly pedicellate. Glumes lanceolate or broadly so, 7–13 × 1.5–2 mm, 5-veined, scabrous or hispid, margin sometimes broadly membranous, apex acuminate to awned; awn (when present) 1–2 mm. Lemma narrowly elliptic, 8–9 mm, scabrous, ± pilose, or pubescent throughout; awn 1–7 mm. Palea equaling or subequaling lemma, margin ciliate, apex emarginate, truncate, or obtuse. Anthers 2–3 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Sep. 2n = 28*.

Tufted perennial without rhizomes; calms 70-120 cm high, erect or geniculately ascending. Leaf-blades flat, up to 25 cm long, 8-12 mm wide, scabrid, sometimes sparsely long-hairy above. Spike dense, 6-15 cm long, erect, sometimes second; rhachis joints scabrid along the margins. Spikelets 3-5-flowered, 6-15 mm long; glumes subequal, linear lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 7-10 mm long, gradually tapering to a mucro or an awn up to 2 mm long, very scabrid on the nerves; lemma lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate, 9-12 mm long, scaberulous, with an awn 2-4 mm long; palea a little shorter than the lemma; anthers 2-2.5 mm long.

Xinjiang [Mongolia, Russia; C and SW Asia, Europe].

Distribution: Gilgit; Arctic Eurasia and North America; the Caucasus and the mountains of Central Asia.

Sparse forests, forest margins and glades, among shrubs, mountain slopes, meadows, pebbles; 1200–2400 m.