Index / Search / Elymus elymoides
§1 Plant
Elymus elymoides (Raf.) Swezey
vernacular squirreltail — species · Poaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Graminoid
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Monocot
- Family
- Poaceae Barnhart
- Genus
- Elymus
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 425 counties across 21 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- High
- Shade
- High
- Moisture use
- Low
- Fire
- Medium
- Salinity
- Low
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- High
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -43 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 90 min.
- Precipitation
- 5–16 in/yr
- pH range
- 6–8.4
- Root depth
- 12 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- medium, fine
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Bunch
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Lifespan
- Long
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft
- Foliage texture
- Fine
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Moderate
- Porosity (winter)
- Porous
- Flower colour
- Yellow
- Fruit colour
- Brown
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Seed abundance
- Medium
- Seed begins
- Spring
- Seed ends
- Summer
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 192,000
- Propagation
- seed
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Field Collections Only
- Nursery stock
- No
- Browse palatability
- Medium
- Graze palatability
- Medium
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Medium
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 425 counties across 21 states/territories.
Arizona view state ↗ 15 N ▾
California view state ↗ 43 N ▾
- Alameda 06001
- Alpine 06003
- Amador 06005
- Butte 06007
- Calaveras 06009
- Colusa 06011
- Contra Costa 06013
- El Dorado 06017
- Fresno 06019
- Glenn 06021
- Humboldt 06023
- Inyo 06027
- Kern 06029
- Lake 06033
- Lassen 06035
- Los Angeles 06037
- Madera 06039
- Mariposa 06043
- Mendocino 06045
- Merced 06047
- Modoc 06049
- Mono 06051
- Monterey 06053
- Napa 06055
- Nevada 06057
- Placer 06061
- Plumas 06063
- Riverside 06065
- San Benito 06069
- San Bernardino 06071
- San Diego 06073
- San Joaquin 06077
- San Luis Obispo 06079
- Santa Barbara 06083
- Shasta 06089
- Sierra 06091
- Siskiyou 06093
- Sonoma 06097
- Tehama 06103
- Trinity 06105
- Tulare 06107
- Tuolumne 06109
- Ventura 06111
Colorado view state ↗ 57 N ▾
- Adams 08001
- Alamosa 08003
- Arapahoe 08005
- Archuleta 08007
- Baca 08009
- Bent 08011
- Boulder 08013
- Chaffee 08015
- Cheyenne 08017
- Conejos 08021
- Costilla 08023
- Crowley 08025
- Custer 08027
- Delta 08029
- Dolores 08033
- Douglas 08035
- Eagle 08037
- El Paso 08041
- Elbert 08039
- Garfield 08045
- Gilpin 08047
- Grand 08049
- Gunnison 08051
- Huerfano 08055
- Jackson 08057
- Jefferson 08059
- Kiowa 08061
- Kit Carson 08063
- La Plata 08067
- Lake 08065
- Larimer 08069
- Las Animas 08071
- Lincoln 08073
- Logan 08075
- Mesa 08077
- Mineral 08079
- Moffat 08081
- Montezuma 08083
- Montrose 08085
- Morgan 08087
- Otero 08089
- Ouray 08091
- Park 08093
- Pitkin 08097
- Prowers 08099
- Pueblo 08101
- Rio Blanco 08103
- Rio Grande 08105
- Routt 08107
- Saguache 08109
- San Juan 08111
- San Miguel 08113
- Sedgwick 08115
- Teller 08119
- Washington 08121
- Weld 08123
- Yuma 08125
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 28 N ▾
- Ada 16001
- Adams 16003
- Bannock 16005
- Bear Lake 16007
- Bingham 16011
- Blaine 16013
- Boise 16015
- Bonneville 16019
- Butte 16023
- Canyon 16027
- Cassia 16031
- Clark 16033
- Custer 16037
- Elmore 16039
- Fremont 16043
- Gem 16045
- Gooding 16047
- Idaho 16049
- Kootenai 16055
- Latah 16057
- Lemhi 16059
- Lincoln 16063
- Nez Perce 16069
- Owyhee 16073
- Teton 16081
- Twin Falls 16083
- Valley 16085
- Washington 16087
Illinois view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 38 N ▾
- Barton 20009
- Cheyenne 20023
- Clark 20025
- Decatur 20039
- Ellis 20051
- Ford 20057
- Gove 20063
- Graham 20065
- Grant 20067
- Gray 20069
- Greeley 20071
- Hamilton 20075
- Harper 20077
- Haskell 20081
- Hodgeman 20083
- Jackson 20085
- Kearny 20093
- Lane 20101
- Lincoln 20105
- Logan 20109
- Meade 20119
- Morton 20129
- Ness 20135
- Norton 20137
- Rawlins 20153
- Republic 20157
- Rooks 20163
- Rush 20165
- Scott 20171
- Seward 20175
- Sheridan 20179
- Sherman 20181
- Stanton 20187
- Stevens 20189
- Thomas 20193
- Trego 20195
- Wallace 20199
- Wichita 20203
Kentucky view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Montana view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 10 N ▾
Nevada view state ↗ 17 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 30 N ▾
- Bernalillo 35001
- Catron 35003
- Chaves 35005
- Cibola 35006
- Colfax 35007
- De Baca 35011
- Dona Ana 35013
- Eddy 35015
- Grant 35017
- Guadalupe 35019
- Harding 35021
- Hidalgo 35023
- Lea 35025
- Lincoln 35027
- Los Alamos 35028
- Luna 35029
- McKinley 35031
- Mora 35033
- Otero 35035
- Quay 35037
- Rio Arriba 35039
- San Juan 35045
- San Miguel 35047
- Sandoval 35043
- Santa Fe 35049
- Sierra 35051
- Socorro 35053
- Taos 35055
- Torrance 35057
- Valencia 35061
North Dakota view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 28 N ▾
- Baker 41001
- Benton 41003
- Clackamas 41005
- Columbia 41009
- Crook 41013
- Deschutes 41017
- Douglas 41019
- Gilliam 41021
- Grant 41023
- Harney 41025
- Hood River 41027
- Jackson 41029
- Jefferson 41031
- Josephine 41033
- Klamath 41035
- Lake 41037
- Lane 41039
- Linn 41043
- Malheur 41045
- Marion 41047
- Morrow 41049
- Sherman 41055
- Umatilla 41059
- Union 41061
- Wallowa 41063
- Wasco 41065
- Washington 41067
- Wheeler 41069
South Dakota view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Texas view state ↗ 49 N ▾
- Andrews 48003
- Armstrong 48011
- Bailey 48017
- Brewster 48043
- Childress 48075
- Cochran 48079
- Crockett 48105
- Culberson 48109
- Dallam 48111
- Deaf Smith 48117
- Dickens 48125
- Donley 48129
- Edwards 48137
- El Paso 48141
- Gaines 48165
- Garza 48169
- Gray 48179
- Hale 48189
- Hansford 48195
- Hartley 48205
- Howard 48227
- Hudspeth 48229
- Irion 48235
- Jeff Davis 48243
- Kimble 48267
- Lamb 48279
- Lubbock 48303
- Mitchell 48335
- Ochiltree 48357
- Oldham 48359
- Parmer 48369
- Pecos 48371
- Potter 48375
- Presidio 48377
- Randall 48381
- Reeves 48389
- Runnels 48399
- Schleicher 48413
- Shackelford 48417
- Sherman 48421
- Sterling 48431
- Sutton 48435
- Swisher 48437
- Taylor 48441
- Throckmorton 48447
- Tom Green 48451
- Upton 48461
- Ward 48475
- Wheeler 48483
Utah view state ↗ 28 N ▾
- Beaver 49001
- Box Elder 49003
- Cache 49005
- Carbon 49007
- Daggett 49009
- Davis 49011
- Duchesne 49013
- Emery 49015
- Garfield 49017
- Grand 49019
- Iron 49021
- Juab 49023
- Kane 49025
- Millard 49027
- Piute 49031
- Rich 49033
- Salt Lake 49035
- San Juan 49037
- Sanpete 49039
- Sevier 49041
- Summit 49043
- Tooele 49045
- Uintah 49047
- Utah 49049
- Wasatch 49051
- Washington 49053
- Wayne 49055
- Weber 49057
Washington view state ↗ 23 N ▾
- Adams 53001
- Benton 53005
- Chelan 53007
- Clallam 53009
- Columbia 53013
- Douglas 53017
- Ferry 53019
- Franklin 53021
- Grant 53025
- Jefferson 53031
- Kittitas 53037
- Klickitat 53039
- Lewis 53041
- Lincoln 53043
- Okanogan 53047
- Pierce 53053
- Skamania 53059
- Spokane 53063
- Stevens 53065
- Walla Walla 53071
- Whatcom 53073
- Whitman 53075
- Yakima 53077
Wyoming view state ↗ 21 N ▾
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/ELEL5 ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/5290296 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z