Burke: Bromus tectorum vs. Bromus japonicus

	Bromus tectorum	Bromus japonicus
	cheat grass	Japanese brome
Habit		Annual, the culms 2-5 dm. tall.
Leaves		Sheaths closed, densely long-hairy; ligules 0.5-1.5 mm. long, hairy; blades flat, 1.5-3 mm. broad.
Flowers		Inflorescence an open, pyramidal panicle 7-15 cm. long, spreading or drooping, the pedicles longer than the spikelets; spikelets 7- to 12-flowered, 20-25 mm. long, glabrous; first glume lanceolate, 3-nerved, 4-6 mm. long, the second 5-nerved, somewhat longer and broader; lemmas broadly oblong-lanceolate, curved around the fruit, 8-10 mm. long, the tip obtuse, but splitting to the awn, which is attached 1-2.5 mm. below the tip; awn 8-12 mm. long, twisted and bent; paleas 1.5-3 mm. shorter than the lemmas; anthers not exerted.

	Bromus tectorum	Bromus japonicus
Flowering time	March-June	June-August
Habitat	Sagebrush desert, grasslands, prairies, meadows, balds, roadsides, wastelots, and other distrubed open areas from low to middle elevations.	Sagebrush desert and grasslands to lower mountain forests; often a weed of roadsides and waste land.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to Baja California, Mexico, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map]
Origin	Introduced from Europe	Introduced from Eurasia
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	B. arenarius, B. briziformis, B. ciliatus, B. commutatus, B. diandrus, B. erectus, B. hordeaceus, B. inermis, B. japonicus, B. madritensis, B. orcuttianus, B. pacificus, B. pumpellianus, B. racemosus, B. rubens, B. secalinus, B. sitchensis, B. squarrosus, B. sterilis, B. suksdorfii, B. vulgaris	B. arenarius, B. briziformis, B. ciliatus, B. commutatus, B. diandrus, B. erectus, B. hordeaceus, B. inermis, B. madritensis, B. orcuttianus, B. pacificus, B. pumpellianus, B. racemosus, B. rubens, B. secalinus, B. sitchensis, B. squarrosus, B. sterilis, B. suksdorfii, B. tectorum, B. vulgaris
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Bromus tectorum

Bromus japonicus

cheat grass

Japanese brome

Habit

Annual, the culms 2-5 dm. tall.

Leaves

Sheaths closed, densely long-hairy;

ligules 0.5-1.5 mm. long, hairy;

blades flat, 1.5-3 mm. broad.

Flowers

Inflorescence an open, pyramidal panicle 7-15 cm. long, spreading or drooping, the pedicles longer than the spikelets;

spikelets 7- to 12-flowered, 20-25 mm. long, glabrous; first glume lanceolate, 3-nerved, 4-6 mm. long, the second 5-nerved, somewhat longer and broader;

lemmas broadly oblong-lanceolate, curved around the fruit, 8-10 mm. long, the tip obtuse, but splitting to the awn, which is attached 1-2.5 mm. below the tip; awn 8-12 mm. long, twisted and bent;

paleas 1.5-3 mm. shorter than the lemmas;

anthers not exerted.