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rescue brome, rescue grass, rescuegras

hairy 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.

40-190 cm, erect;

nodes 2-4, usually pubescent;

internodes usually pubescent.

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.

with long, stiff, retrorse hairs, at least on the lower portion, midrib of the culm leaves not abruptly narrowed just below the collar;

auricles present;

ligules 2-3.5 mm, glabrous or sparsely pilose, rounded to truncate, erose;

blades 10-60 cm long, 6-15 mm wide, flat, drooping, glabrous or sparsely hairy.

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.

15-40 cm long, open, lax, drooping;

branches spreading or drooping.

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.

20-40 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, with 3-10 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.

glabrous, scabridulous over the veins;

lower glumes 5-8 mm, 1-veined;

upper glumes 8-11 mm, 3-veined, mucronate;

lemmas 10-14 mm, lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, margins and at least the lower 1/2 of the backs pubescent, apices acute, entire or emarginate, lobes shorter than 1 mm;

awns 4-7 mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;

anthers 2.5-4 mm.

2n

= 42.

= 14, 28, 42.

Bromus catharticus

Bromus ramosus

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
DC; KY; LA; ME; MS
Discussion

Bromus ramosus is native to Asia, Europe, and northern Africa. It is included here based on Pavlick's (1995) statement that it is found sporadically in the southern and eastern United States; specimens to substantiate his statement have not been located.

(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. 220.
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. porteri, B. pseudolaevipes, B. pubescens, B. pumpellianus, B. racemosus, 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
Name authority Vahl Huds.
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