UW Burke Herbarium species comparison

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Bromus tectorum

Bromus sitchensis

cheat grass

Alaska brome, Sitka brome
Habit Perennial, the culms 5-15 dm. tall, without rhizomes.
Leaves

Sheaths closed, glabrous or with soft hairs;

ligules 2-8 mm. long, glabrous and pale;

blades flat, thin, 8-15 mm. broad, the veins very narrow.
Inflorescences

Large, open panicle 10-35 cm. long, the branches erect to drooping, with only 1-2 spikelets near the tips.
Spikelets

2-4 cm. long, compressed, tapered from near the base, closely 4- to 8-flowered;

glumes keeled, the first 8-10 mm. long, the second 2-3 mm. longer;
Florets

Lemmas keeled, shallowly bidentate, the awn attached between the teeth 7-12 mm. long, straight;

anthers 3, usually included.

Bromus tectorum

Bromus sitchensis
Flowering time March-June May-August
Habitat Sagebrush desert, grasslands, prairies, meadows, balds, roadsides, wastelots, and other distrubed open areas from low to middle elevations. Dry to moist open areas from lowlands to subalpine.
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 on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Great Plains
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Introduced from Europe Native
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. japonicus, B. madritensis, B. orcuttianus, B. pacificus, B. pumpellianus, B. racemosus, B. rubens, B. secalinus, B. squarrosus, B. sterilis, B. suksdorfii, B. tectorum, B. vulgaris
Subordinate taxa
B. sitchensis var. aleutensis, B. sitchensis var. carinatus, B. sitchensis var. marginatus, B. sitchensis var. polyanthus, B. sitchensis var. sitchensis
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the University of Washington's Burke Herbarium.



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