Early Wild-rye
Elymus macgregorii
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 53%
- Height
- Up to about 4 feet
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Spread · Light · Soil · Leaves · Bloom
Bloom: NC species account not read yet.
Spread, light, soil and leaves: no source found yet.
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 2 Alabama counties.
Who uses this plant?
17CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Elymus
- Amblyscirtes vialisCommon Roadside-Skipper, Black Little Skipper
- Ancyloxypha numitorLeast Skipper
- Cercyonis pegalaCommon Wood Nymph
- Dargida diffusaWheat Head Armywotm Moth
- Lethe anthedonNorthern Pearly Eye
- Leucania commoidesDusky Wainscot, Comma Wainscot
- Leucania multilineaMany-Lined Wainscot
- Leucania phragmitidicolaNeedle Wainscot, Phragmites Wainscot
- Leucania pseudargyriaFalse Wainscot
- Lon zabulonZabulon Skipper
Show all 17
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Nephelodes miniansBronzed Cutworm
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Polites themistoclesTawny-Edged Skipper
- Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Elymus
- Alectoris chukarChukar
- Anser albifronsGreater White-fronted Goose
- Perdix perdixGray Partridge
- Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
- Flower color
- Yellow, green or brown
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Yellow, green or brown” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 4 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Also known as
Early Wild Rye
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

