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Secale strictum

Common name:	Mountain Rye	Family:	Gramineae
Author:	(C.Presl.)C.Presl.	Botanical references:	50
Synonyms:	Secale montana (Guss.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe - Mediterranean to northern Africa and western Asia.
Habitat:	Dry stony or rocky mountain sides.
Edibility Rating (1-5):	5	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	S. cereale[B,C,DUTCH,ENERGY,E,G,H,HORTIPLEX,L,P] S. dalmaticum[G] S. montanum[B,G,P] S. strictum subsp. strictum[G] Triticum cereale[B,P] Triticum strictum[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Centeno [E], Cultivated Rye [P,B], Mountain Rye [P], Rogge [D], Rye [E,L], Swale [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	strictum = upright
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Cyperales. Renamed to Poaceae -- Grass family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Belgium Spain Us

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1.2m by 0.3m . It is hardy to zone 3 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 5/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Seed.

Seed - used as a whole grain or ground into a flour and used for making bread etc[46, 177, 183]. Somewhat smaller than the seed of S. cereale but produced abundantly. It is relatively difficult to extract the seed from the glumes by hand[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in most soils but prefers a well-drained light soil in a sunny position[1].
One report says that it requires protection from severe frosts[1], though our experience is that it is hardy in most parts of the country[K].
Mountain rye is occasionally cultivated for its edible seed[61], it is possibly a parent of the cultivated Rye, S. cereale[57].
This species has an excellent potential as a perennial cereal crop in temperate zones. Although the seed is somewhat smaller than the cultivated annual rye, it is produced abundantly, especially from the second year onwards. The plant tillers well, especially in its second and subsequent years, and the ears in selected varieties can be 25cm long[K].
Not all forms of this species are perennial, the subspecies S. strictum kuprijanovii. Gross. is reliably so[46].

Propagation

Seed - sow March or October in situ and only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks.
If the seed is in short supply, it can be grown in pots in the greenhouse or cold frame in early spring. Only just cover the seed. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant them out in late spring or early summer.
Division in spring. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found it best to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in a lightly shaded position in a cold frame, planting them out once they are well established in the summer.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

References for Secale cereale (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HEC] Use, Folk Medicine, etc. from Handbook of Energy Crops by James Duke
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Secale montana (a possible synonym).

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Secale montanum (a possible synonym).

[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Secale strictum subsp. strictum (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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