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Pacific brome

maritime brome, seaside brome

Habit Plants perennial; not rhizomatous. Plants perennial; loosely cespitose.
Culms

60-170 cm, erect;

nodes (5)6-8, pubescent;

internodes usually glabrous, sometimes pubescent near the nodes.

20-70 cm tall, to 3 mm thick, sometimes geniculate at the base.

Sheaths

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

auricles absent;

ligules 2-4 mm, glabrous, truncate, erose or lacerate;

blades 20-35(37) mm long, 6-16 mm wide, flat, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces pilose.

usually smooth or scabridulous, sometimes slightly pubescent distally, not pilose at the throat;

auricles absent;

ligules 1-6 mm, densely hairy to ciliolate, acute to obtuse, erose;

blades 6-13 cm long, 6-8 mm wide, flat, both surfaces glabrous, sometimes scabrous.

Panicles

10-25 cm, open, nodding;

branches ascending, spreading, or drooping.

9-20 cm long, 2-2.5 cm wide, dense;

lower branches shorter than 10 cm, 2-4 per node, erect, with 1-2 spikelets variously distributed.

Spikelets

20-30 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, with (4)6-10 florets.

20-40 mm, usually longer than the branches and pedicels, elliptic to lanceolate, strongly laterally compressed, crowded, overlapping, with 3-7 florets.

Glumes

pubescent;

lower glumes 6-8.5 mm, 1(3)-veined;

upper glumes 8-11.5 mm, 3-veined, not mucronate;

lemmas 10-12 mm, lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, backs pubescent, margins more densely so, apices acute, entire;

awns 3.5-7 mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;

anthers 2-4 mm.

pubescent;

lower glumes 8-12 mm, (3)5(7)-veined;

upper glumes 10-13 mm, 7(9)-veined, shorter than the lowest lemma;

lemmas 12-14 mm, lanceolate, laterally compressed, distinctly 9-11-veined, strongly keeled at least distally, more or less uniformly hairy, often with bronze hyaline margins, apices entire or with acute teeth shorter than 1 mm;

awns (2)4-7 mm;

anthers 2-4 mm.

2n

= 28.

= 56.

Bromus pacificus

Bromus maritimus

Distribution
from FNA
AK; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Bromus pacificus grows in moist thickets, openings, and ravines along the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to northern California, with a few occurrences further inland.

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

Bromus maritimus grows in coastal sands from Lane County, Oregon, to Los Angeles County, California.

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

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 218. FNA vol. 24, p. 202.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Bromeae > Bromus > sect. Bromopsis Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Bromeae > Bromus > sect. Ceratochloa
Sibling taxa
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. 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. 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
Synonyms Bromopsis pacifica B. carinatus var. maritimus
Name authority Shear (Piper) Hitchc.
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