Diploid intergeneric hybrids among Thinopyrum bessarabicum, Pseudoroegneria spicata, and Secale montanum were synthesized with the aid of embryo rescue. Karyotype analyses of mitotic root-tip cells revealed that all satellited chromosomes in the J, S, and R genomes were present in their hybrid combinations, making it possible to identify these hybrids at the seedling stage. Spikes of these hybrids were intermediate to, but distinctly different from, those of the parental species. Meiotic chromosome associations at metaphase I in the pollen mother cells averaged 4.34 I + 2.77 rod II + 1.42 ring II + 0.24 III + 0.14 IV for P. spicata × T. bessarabicum; 11.05 I + 1.22 rod II + 0.04 ring II + 0.13 III + 0.01 IV for T. bessarabicum × S. montanum; and 12.98 I + 0.52 rod II + 0.01 III for P. spicata × S. montanum. These meiotic data suggest that the S genome of Pseudoroegneria and the J genome of Thinopyrum are more closely related to each other than they are with the R genome of Secale. The R genome is slightly closer to the J genome than to the S genome. Since these synthetic hybrids represent genomic combinations that may not exist in nature, their induced amphiploids should be created and evaluated.Key words: intergeneric hybrids, genome, phylogeny, Thinopyrum, Pseudoroegneria, Secale.