Psathyrostachys juncea (Fisch.) Nevski

vernacular Russian wildrye — species · Poaceae

USDA: PSJU3
GBIF: 2705042
Rank: species

Russian wildrye (Psathyrostachys juncea) — Platephotograph · lauranealCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Graminoid
Duration: Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Poaceae Barnhart
Genus: Psathyrostachys

§2a

Native status, by region

AK Alaska Introduced
CAN Canada Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 13 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 13 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: Medium
Salinity: Medium
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -43 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 90 min.
Precipitation: 10–45 in/yr
pH range: 6.5–9
Root depth: 16 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Bunch
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 3 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Spring
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 162,600
Propagation: seed

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: High
Graze palatability: High
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Medium
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 13 counties across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 13 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PSJU3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2705042 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z