Triticum chinense Trinius ex Bunge, Enum. Pl. China Bor. 72. 1833; Agropyron chinense (Trinius ex Bunge) Ohwi; A. uninerve P. Candargy, nom. illeg. superfl.; Aneurolepidium chinense (Trinius ex Bunge) Kitagawa; Elymus auritus Keng; E. chinensis (Trinius ex Bunge) Keng; Leymus auritus (Keng) A. Löve.

Culms laxly tufted, 40–90 cm tall, 4- or 5-noded. Leaf sheath dull yellow, smooth; ligule 0.5–1 mm, papery, apex truncate, dentate; leaf blade flat or rolled, 7–18 × 0.3–0.6 cm, abaxial surface smooth, adaxial surface scabrous. Spike erect, 7–15 × 1–1.5 cm; rachis ciliolate at margin; internodes 6–10(–16) mm. Spikelets usually 2 per node at middle of spike, 1 per node elsewhere, glaucous when young, 1–2.2 cm, with 5–10 florets; rachilla smooth; internodes 1–1.5 mm. Glumes not covering base of first lemma, subulate, shorter than or equaling first lemma, obscurely 3-veined, smooth below middle, adaxially glabrous, but margin ciliolate, apex scabrous. Lemma lanceolate or broadly so, obscurely 5-veined, margin narrowly membranous, apex gradually narrowed, acute or mucronate; first lemma 8–9 mm; callus smooth. Palea equaling lemma, apex slightly bifid. Anthers 3–4 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Aug. 2n = 28*.

This species is used for forage.

The C Asian, somewhat similar Leymus divaricatus (Drobov) Tzvelev (Bot. Mater. Gerb. Bot. Inst. Komarova Akad. Nauk SSSR 20: 430. 1960; Elymus divaricatus Drobov, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 21: 45. 1925; E. regelii Roshevitz; L. regelii (Roshevitz) Tzvelev) has been recorded from Xinjiang (the type of E. regelii). It differs from L. chinensis in having spikelets 3(or 4) per node more or less throughout the spike; glumes adaxially very shortly hairy or bristly; and lemmas usually ovate-lanceolate, abruptly narrowed at the apex, and awnless or with awn to 3(–4) mm.

Grassy places. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Xinjiang [Korea, Mongolia, Russia].