Alkaligrass, Nootka
Ninilchik Germplasm nootka alkaligrass (pdf file)
Puccinellia nutkaensis, Selected Class “Natural”

Ninilchik Germplasm nootka alkaligrass is an accession from a species that occupies a very specific niche in coastal Alaska; it is intended to be used on revegetation projects where the site is sometimes flooded by extremely high tides or storm surges.  This is a species that does best on silty or gravelly coastal soils and is most often found in Southcentral and Southeast Alaska.  Ninilchik was collected near the village of Ninilchik, Alaska, and was released in 2007 as a Selected Class accession (Wright, 2007).

Artemisia, Dusty Miller
Shemya Germplasm dusty miller (pdf file)
Artemisia stelleriana, Selected Class “Natural”

Artemisia stelleriana is an interesting species in Alaska because it is only classified as native to North America on the western-most Aleutian Islands, including Shemya Island.  The concept of it being native to such a limited region of North America seems to discount the fact that the original Aleut population did conduct trade with more Western societies and groups in Asia (where the species is native and widespread).  Shemya germplasm was released for limited revegetation use and is only recommended for planting on the Western Aleutian Islands.  It can, however, be used in landscape applications throughout Alaska where the species does well.  The best performance can be expected on sandy to gravelly soils (Wright, 2007).

Barley, Meadow
Lowell Point Germplasm meadow barley (pdf file) Hordeum brachyantherum, Selected Class “Natural”

This meadow barley collection was originally harvested near Seward, Alaska.  This species is an important coastal grass, most frequently found in wet areas and often on fine soils, like clays; however, at times it grows on rocky or gravelly sites, provided adequate moisture exists.  The material was released as a Selected Class for commercial production in 2006 (Wright, 2006).