Burke: Vulpia octoflora vs. Vulpia bromoides

	Vulpia octoflora	Vulpia bromoides
	six-weeks fescue	brome fescue
Habit		Mostly glabrous annual 1-5 dm. tall with hollow culms, which are longitudinally grooved.
Leaves		Sheaths open; leaf blades involute, up to 1.5 mm. broad; auricles lacking; ligules membranous, erose, 0.2-0.6 mm. long.
Flowers		Inflorescence a narrow panicle with short, erect branches and pedicles 3-10 cm. long; spikelets 3- to 6-flowered; glumes unequal, the first 3-6 mm. long, 1-nerved, the second 5-8.5 mm. long, 3-nerved; lemmas glabrous, about 6.5 mm. long, with a terminal awn 5.5-13 mm. long; stamens usually 1, the anther purple; sometimes the lowest floret pistillate, and the other florets with 2-3 anthers.
Fruits		Utricle

	Vulpia octoflora	Vulpia bromoides
Flowering time	April-June	April-June
Habitat	Open, often disturbed areas, lowland to montane.	From ocean beaches and salt marshes to sagebrush deserts.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, southern Great Plains, and eastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Introduced from Europe
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	V. bromoides, V. microstachys, V. myuros	V. microstachys, V. myuros, V. octoflora
Subordinate taxa	V. octoflora var. hirtella, V. octoflora var. octoflora
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

Vulpia octoflora

Vulpia bromoides

six-weeks fescue

brome fescue

Habit

Mostly glabrous annual 1-5 dm. tall with hollow culms, which are longitudinally grooved.

Leaves

Sheaths open;

leaf blades involute, up to 1.5 mm. broad;

auricles lacking;

ligules membranous, erose, 0.2-0.6 mm. long.

Flowers

Inflorescence a narrow panicle with short, erect branches and pedicles 3-10 cm. long;

spikelets 3- to 6-flowered;

glumes unequal, the first 3-6 mm. long, 1-nerved, the second 5-8.5 mm. long, 3-nerved;

lemmas glabrous, about 6.5 mm. long, with a terminal awn 5.5-13 mm. long;

stamens usually 1, the anther purple; sometimes the lowest floret pistillate, and the other florets with 2-3 anthers.

Fruits

Utricle

Vulpia octoflora

Vulpia bromoides

Flowering time

April-June

Habitat

Open, often disturbed areas, lowland to montane.

From ocean beaches and salt marshes to sagebrush deserts.

Distribution

Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Atlantic Coast.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, southern Great Plains, and eastern North America.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Introduced from Europe

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa

V. bromoides, V. microstachys, V. myuros

V. microstachys, V. myuros, V. octoflora

Subordinate taxa

V. octoflora var. hirtella, V. octoflora var. octoflora