Briza maxima
big quaking grass, large quaking grass, rattlesnake grass
20-80 cm.
evenly distributed;
sheaths frequently less than 1/2 as long as the internodes, open to near the base, margins overlapping;
ligules 3-7 mm, sides sometimes decurrent, margins entire to erose, acute;
blades 2.5-20 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, margins strigose or glabrous.
3.5-10 cm long, mostly 1-5 cm wide;
pedicels 5-20 mm.
10-20 mm, oval to elliptic, with 4-12(15) florets.
2-3 mm, obovoid.
glumes 5-5.5 mm, 5-veined;
upper glumes 6-6.5 mm, 7-veined;
lowermost lemmas 7-9 mm, 7-9-veined, surfaces usually glabrous proximally, becoming villous distally, apices obtuse;
paleas about 4 mm, more or less ciliolate along the margins;
anthers 1.2-1.5 mm.
= 10, 14.
Briza maxima
Briza maxima is native to the Mediterranean region. Cultivated as an ornamental, it is possibly one of the earliest grasses grown for other than edible purposes. It occasionally becomes naturalized in dry to somewhat moist but well-drained, fine or sandy soil on banks, rocky places, open woodlands, and cultivated areas such as roadsides and pastures. In the Flora region, it is known from scattered locations, mostly in Oregon and California, where it is an invader of coastal dune habitat.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
IL Wildflowers, 
MI Flora, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
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- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
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