| Author | L. | |
| Distribution | Central and southern Mountains only, though as this is a Northern and Midwestern species, it certainly could be found in the northern NC Mountain counties. A specimen from Transylvania County (herbarium NCU) is actually E. riparius.
N.S. to Yukon, south to NC, TX, AZ. | |
| Abundance | Rare to very uncommon. The NCNHP considers the species as Significantly Rare, though tracks its records under var. robustus only, rather than at the full species level. | |
| Habitat | Riverside scour zones and banks, montane hardwood-pine slopes, often where quite rich. In most of its range it inhabits mesic to moist prairies. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting July-September. | |
| Identification | At 3-4.5 feet tall, this wild-rye is more robust than most of our other species. Its inflorescence usually arches or nods (as does E. riparius), and the awns curve outwards (awns not curved in E. riparius). | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Only the nominate variety occurs in NC.
Ryegrasses or Wild-ryes (genus Elymus) are noted by their evenly spaced leaves and elongate, terminal inflorescence that recall cultivated rye or wheat. Each floret produces several long, skinny awns (shortest in E. virginicus sensu stricto). Identification of some species requires a dissecting scope or at least a 10x handlens. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | SU [S1?] | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | [SR-D] | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FAC link |
| USACE-emp | FACU link |
