Secale cereale

Rye

Field view of Secale cereale, common name Rye. This is the cultivated commercial rye.

Rye is a tall grass, up to 6 feet plus. It readily escapes cultivation and can be found in the wild.

When dry you can see the rather long 2-inch awns and the large spikelets.

This rye sprig is in anthesis, with yellow anthers. Many grasses can turn red like this, especially in the fall.

The seedhead of Secale cereale is green, with long awns and yellow anthers.

The black sprouts are rye infected by the poisonous fungus, ergot. The USDA strictly limits how much ergot is allowed in cultivated rye.

Here is a close view of a normal rye spikelet whose awns are missing.

Close view of an ergoty spikelet.

The basal leaves of rye are long and lush.

How to Identify Rye Grass

  All the 36 Arizona wheat, rye, and barley grasses and their allies are in the tribe Triticeae and all are rather similar, looking like the seedheads advertised on wheat cereals. Most have awns and are sessile spikes. Rye is an annual grass that most often holds its seedheads upright until they start to dry, at which time they tend to nod. Its smooth green leaf blades can be half an inch wide. Seedheads can be six inches and the entire plant can grow to 10 feet tall.

Similar Species

  Cereal rye is made easier to identify by thousands of years of selective breeding. As a result, its spikelets and especially the florets holding the seeds are extra large and plump. Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum, shown here) looks quite similar to Rye, and it also escapes cultivation. There are wheat varieties that are awnless, but many farmers prefer the awned variety, so both are common and easily confused with rye. I find that wheat spikelets are even plumper than rye.