Bromus porteri
Bromus pumpellianus
nodding brome, Porter brome, Porter's brome
arctic brome, pumpelly brome
30-100 cm, erect;
nodes (2)3-4(5), glabrous or pubescent;
internodes mostly glabrous, puberulent near the nodes.
50-135 cm, erect or ascending, sometimes geniculate, usually single or few together, sometimes clumped;
nodes 2-7, pubescent or glabrous;
internodes glabrous or pubescent.
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, villous, or glabrous;
auricles sometimes present on the lower leaves;
ligules to 4 mm, glabrous, truncate or obtuse, erose;
blades 7-30 cm long, 2.5-8.5(9) mm wide, flat, pubescent or glabrous on both surfaces, sometimes only the adaxial surface pubescent.
7-20 cm, open, nodding, often 1-sided;
branches slender, ascending to spreading, often recurved and flexuous.
10-24 cm, open or contracted, erect or nodding;
branches erect to spreading.
12-38 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, with (3)5-11(13) florets.
16-32(45) mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, sometimes purplish, with 4-14 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.
glabrous or hairy;
lower glumes (4)5-10 mm, 1(3)-veined;
upper glumes (5)7.5-13 mm, 3-veined;
lemmas 9-16 mm, lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, sparsely to densely hairy throughout, or on the margins and lower portion of the back, or along the marginal veins and keel, apices subulate to acute, entire or slightly emarginate, lobes shorter than 1 mm;
awns usually present, sometimes absent, to 7.5 mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;
anthers 3.5-7 mm.
= 14.
= 28, 56.
Bromus porteri
Bromus pumpellianus
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.)
The range of Bromus pumpellianus extends from Asia to North America, where it includes Alaska, the western half of Canada, the western United States as far south as New Mexico, and a few other locations eastward. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of B. inermis. It differs from that species primarily in its tendency to have pubescent lemmas, nodes, and leaf blades.
Two subspecies that differ in morphology and distribution are described below. Both strongly resemble the recently introduced Bromus riparius, differing in the case of B. pumpellianus subsp. pumpellianus in having longer rhizomes, or, in the case of B. pumpellianus subsp. dicksonii, in having a more restricted distribution. It is possible that the description and distribution of B. pumpellianus may be based in part on misidentification of B. riparius, as many taxonomists may have been unaware of the introduction of the latter species to North America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Panicles usually open; plants cespitose, sometimes shortly rhizomatous; culms ascending, often geniculate; nodes glabrous or pubescent; plants of the Yukon River drainage | subsp. dicksonii |
1. Panicles contracted to open; plants rhizomatous; culms erect; nodes usually pubescent; plants of the range of the species | subsp. pumpellianus |
BC
CA
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
WA
Flora NW
