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nodding brome, Porter brome, Porter's brome

Chilean chess

Habit Plants perennial; not rhizomatous. Plants annual; often tufted.
Culms

30-100 cm, erect;

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

internodes mostly glabrous, puberulent near the nodes.

30-60 cm, slender.

Sheaths

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.

pilose-pubescent to nearly glabrous;

blades 7-28 cm long, 2-9 mm wide, pilose or glabrous.

Panicles

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

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

10-20 cm long, 3-9 cm wide, erect, dense;

branches appressed to spreading, sometimes flexuous.

Spikelets

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

15-20 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, more or less terete, with 3-9 florets.

Glumes

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.

glabrous, acuminate;

lower glumes 8-10 mm, 1-veined;

upper glumes 12-16 mm, 3(5)-veined;

lemmas 11-14 mm, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, sparsely pubescent, 5-veined, rounded over the midvein, apices acuminate, bifid, teeth 2-3 mm, usually aristate, sometimes acuminate;

awns 13-20 mm, geniculate, strongly to moderately twisted in the basal portion, arising 1.5 mm or more below the lemma apices;

anthers 2-2.5 mm.

2n

= 14.

= unknown.

Bromus porteri

Bromus berteroanus

Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; SD; TX; UT; WY; MB; SK
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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; OR; UT
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[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.)

Bromus berteroanus is from Chile, and can now be found in dry areas in western North America, including British Columbia, Montana, California, Nevada, Arizona, southwestern Utah, and Baja California, Mexico.

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

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 213. FNA vol. 24, p. 224.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Bromeae > Bromus > sect. Bromopsis Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Bromeae > Bromus > sect. Neobromus
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. 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
B. aleutensis, B. anomalus, B. arenarius, B. arizonicus, B. arvensis, 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. 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 ported B. trinii var. excelsus, B. trinii
Name authority (J.M. Coult.) Nash Colla
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