Elymus violaceus(Hornem.) J.Feilberg

slender wheatgrass

WFO wfo-0000866848 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Elymus violaceus, photographed by Силаева Татьяна Борисовна
fig. a Силаева Татьяна Борисовна, CC0 1.0 / 2021-09-16 / obs. 157761546
Elymus violaceus, photographed by Henry "Nick" Robertson
fig. b Henry "Nick" Robertson, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 151180066
Elymus violaceus, photographed by Matt Lavin
fig. c Matt Lavin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 152701998
Elymus violaceus, photographed by Henry "Nick" Robertson
fig. d Henry "Nick" Robertson, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 138910245
Elymus violaceus, photographed by Силаева Татьяна Борисовна
fig. e Силаева Татьяна Борисовна, CC0 1.0 / obs. 96592804
Elymus violaceus, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. f Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 98010317
Elymus violaceus, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. g Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 86265806
Elymus violaceus, photographed by Owen McElroy
fig. h Owen McElroy, CC0 1.0 / obs. 80103137

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
Smithsonian, US National Herbarium
Accession
US 3318573
Filed as
Elymus violaceus (Hornem.) J.Feilberg
Det. by
Soreng, Robert J., Research Associate (BOT), Smithsonian Institution - National Museum of Natural History (UNITED STATES)
Collected
P. M. Peterson & C. R. Annable 1994-08-23
Origin
US
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC0 1.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 61 botanical countries

Regions where Elymus violaceus is native: Kamchatka, Magadan, Yakutiya, Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Greenland, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon KamchatkaMagadanYakutiyaAlaskaAlbertaArizonaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutGreenlandIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLabradorMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutOhioOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingYukon Rhode I.
Native distribution of Elymus violaceus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
Arizona ARI
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Greenland GNL
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Nunavut NUN
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK
Kamchatka KAM ASIA-TEMPERATE
Magadan MAG
Yakutiya YAK

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 35 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -28.3 °C -20.0 °C -13.9 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 12.4 °C 15.7 °C 19.9 °C
Annual rainfall 446 mm 1,088 mm 1,539 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 51 mm 148 mm 297 mm

It is found where winters are arctic. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 35 research-grade observations of Elymus violaceus that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 139 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Agropyron andinum Rydb.
  • Agropyron atbassaricum Golosk.
  • Agropyron biflorum subsp. andinum (Scribn. & J.G.Sm.) Piper
  • Agropyron biflorum subsp. latiglume (Scribn. & J.G.Sm.) Piper
  • Agropyron biflorum var. hornemannii B.Fedtsch.
  • Agropyron biflorum var. latiglume Piper
  • Agropyron brevifolium Scribn.
  • Agropyron caninoides (Ramaley) Beal
  • Agropyron caninoides var. pubescens Scribn. & J.G.Sm.
  • Agropyron caninum f. ciliatum (Scribn. & J.G.Sm.) Pease & A.H.Moore
  • Agropyron caninum f. fernaldii Pease & A.H.Moore
  • Agropyron caninum f. glaucum Pease & A.H.Moore
  • Agropyron caninum f. pilosifolium Pease & A.H.Moore
  • Agropyron caninum f. pringlei (Scribn. & J.G.Sm.) Pease & A.H.Moore
  • Agropyron caninum f. pubescens (Scribn. & J.G.Sm.) Pease & A.H.Moore
  • Agropyron caninum f. violacescens Ramaley
  • Agropyron caninum subsp. latiglume (Scribn. & J.G.Sm.) Pease & A.H.Moore
  • Agropyron caninum subsp. majus (Vasey) C.L.Hitchc.
  • Agropyron caninum var. andinum (Scribn. & J.G.Sm.) Pease & A.H.Moore
  • Agropyron caninum var. hornemannii Pease & A.H.Moore
  • Agropyron caninum var. latiglume (Scribn. & J.G.Sm.) C.L.Hitchc.
  • Agropyron caninum var. latiglume Pease & A.H.Moore
  • Agropyron caninum var. mitchellii S.L.Welsh
  • Agropyron caninum var. pubescens Scribn. & J.G.Sm.

and 115 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol ELTR7. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.