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rescue brome, rescue grass, rescuegras

nodding brome, Porter brome, Porter's brome

Habit Plants annual, biennial, or perennial; loosely cespitose or tufted. Plants perennial; not rhizomatous.
Culms

30-120 cm tall, 2-4 mm thick, erect or decumbent.

30-100 cm, erect;

nodes (2)3-4(5), glabrous or pubescent;

internodes mostly glabrous, puberulent near the nodes.

Sheaths

usually densely, often retrorsely, hairy, hairs sometimes confined to the throat;

auricles absent;

ligules 1-4 mm, glabrous or pilose, obtuse, lacerate to erose;

blades 4-30 cm long, 3-10 mm wide, flat, glabrous or hairy on both surfaces.

glabrous or pilose, midrib of the culm leaves not abruptly narrowed just below the collar;

auricles absent;

ligules to 2.5 mm, glabrous, truncate or obtuse, erose or lacerate;

blades (3)10-25(35) cm long, 2-5(6) mm wide, flat, not glaucous, both surfaces usually glabrous, sometimes the adaxial surface pilose.

Panicles

9-28 cm, usually open, erect or nodding;

lower branches shorter than 10 cm, 1-4 per node, spreading or ascending, with up to 5 spikelets variously distributed.

7-20 cm, open, nodding, often 1-sided;

branches slender, ascending to spreading, often recurved and flexuous.

Spikelets

(17)20-40 mm, shorter than at least some pedicels and branches, elliptic to lanceolate, strongly laterally compressed, not crowded or overlapping, with 4-12 florets.

12-38 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, with (3)5-11(13) florets.

Glumes

smooth or scabrous, glabrous or pubescent;

lower glumes 7-12 mm, 5-7(9)-veined;

upper glumes 9-17 mm, 7-9(11)-veined, shorter than the lowest lemma;

lemmas 11-20 mm, lanceolate, laterally compressed, strongly keeled, usually glabrous, sometimes pubescent distally, smooth or scabrous, 9-13-veined, veins often raised and riblike, margins sometimes conspicuous, hyaline, whitish or partly purplish, apices entire or toothed, teeth acute, shorter than 1 mm;

awns absent or to 10 mm;

anthers 0.5-1 mm in cleistogamous florets, 2-5 mm in chasmogamous florets.

usually pubescent, rarely glabrous;

lower glumes 5-7(9) mm, usually 3-veined, sometimes 1-veined;

upper glumes 6-10 mm, 3-veined, not mucronate;

lemmas 8-14 mm, elliptic, rounded over the midvein, usually pubescent or pilose, margins often with longer hairs, backs and margins rarely glabrous, apices acute or obtuse to truncate, entire;

awns (1)2-3(3.5) mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;

anthers (1)2-3 mm.

2n

= 42.

= 14.

Bromus catharticus

Bromus porteri

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; HI; AB; NF; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; SD; TX; UT; WY; MB; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Bromus porteri grows in montane meadows, grassy slopes, mesic steppes, forest edges, and open forest habitats, at 500-3500 m. It is found from British Columbia to Manitoba, and south to California, western Texas, and Mexico. It is closely related to B. anomalus, and has often been included in that species. It differs chiefly in its lack of auricles, and in having culm leaves with midribs that are not narrowed just below the collar.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Awns absent or to 3.5 mm long
var. catharticus
1. Awns (5)6-10 mm long
var. elatus
Source FNA vol. 24, p. 199. FNA vol. 24, p. 213.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Bromeae > Bromus > sect. Ceratochloa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Bromeae > Bromus > sect. Bromopsis
Sibling taxa
B. aleutensis, B. anomalus, B. arenarius, B. arizonicus, B. arvensis, B. berteroanus, B. briziformis, B. carinatus, B. caroli-henrici, B. ciliatus, B. commutatus, B. danthoniae, B. diandrus, B. erectus, B. frondosus, B. grandis, B. hallii, B. hordeaceus, B. inermis, B. japonicus, B. kalmii, B. laevipes, B. lanatipes, B. lanceolatus, B. latiglumis, B. lepidus, B. madritensis, B. maritimus, B. mucroglumis, B. nottowayanus, B. orcuttianus, B. pacificus, B. polyanthus, B. porteri, B. pseudolaevipes, B. pubescens, B. pumpellianus, B. racemosus, B. ramosus, B. richardsonii, B. riparius, B. rubens, B. scoparius, B. secalinus, B. sitchensis, B. squarrosus, B. sterilis, B. suksdorfii, B. tectorum, B. texensis, B. vulgaris
B. aleutensis, B. anomalus, B. arenarius, B. arizonicus, B. arvensis, B. berteroanus, B. briziformis, B. carinatus, B. caroli-henrici, B. catharticus, B. ciliatus, B. commutatus, B. danthoniae, B. diandrus, B. erectus, B. frondosus, B. grandis, B. hallii, B. hordeaceus, B. inermis, B. japonicus, B. kalmii, B. laevipes, B. lanatipes, B. lanceolatus, B. latiglumis, B. lepidus, B. madritensis, B. maritimus, B. mucroglumis, B. nottowayanus, B. orcuttianus, B. pacificus, B. polyanthus, B. pseudolaevipes, B. pubescens, B. pumpellianus, B. racemosus, B. ramosus, B. richardsonii, B. riparius, B. rubens, B. scoparius, B. secalinus, B. sitchensis, B. squarrosus, B. sterilis, B. suksdorfii, B. tectorum, B. texensis, B. vulgaris
Subordinate taxa
B. catharticus var. catharticus, B. catharticus var. elatus
Synonyms Ceratochloa unioloides, B. willdenowii, B. unioloides Bromopsis ported
Name authority Vahl (J.M. Coult.) Nash
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