Bromus porteri
Bromus riparius
nodding brome, Porter brome, Porter's brome
meadow brome
30-100 cm, erect;
nodes (2)3-4(5), glabrous or pubescent;
internodes mostly glabrous, puberulent near the nodes.
30-90 cm, erect or decumbent, forming distinct clumps;
nodes 2-3, glabrous or puberulent;
internodes glabrous or puberulent.
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.
glabrous or with hairs;
auricles to 1 mm on the lower leaves;
ligules 0.4-1.0 mm, glabrous or ciliate, truncate, erose;
blades 10-20 cm long, 2-3 mm wide, scabridulous, glabrous or sparsely pilose, margins sometimes ciliate.
7-20 cm, open, nodding, often 1-sided;
branches slender, ascending to spreading, often recurved and flexuous.
8-20 cm long, lax;
branches scabridulous, with 1-2 spikelets.
12-38 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, with (3)5-11(13) florets.
20-32 mm, lanceolate, becoming cuneate, with 5-8 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, sometimes scabridulous on the veins;
lower glumes 6.5-10 mm, 1(3)-veined;
upper glumes 7.5-12 mm, 3-5-veined;
lemmas 10-13 mm, oblong to lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, 7-veined, glabrous or appressed-hairy, sometimes scabridulous, apices acute, entire or minutely bifid;
awns 4-8 mm, straight or slightly spreading, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;
anthers 2.5-5.2 mm.
= 14.
= 70.
Bromus porteri
Bromus riparius
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 riparius is an Asian species that was introduced to the United States in the late 1950s for cultivation as a pasture grass. Various cultivars are now grown, mainly in Canada and the northwestern United States. The description given here is derived in part from cultivated specimens. North American plants have sometimes been referred to, incorrectly, as Bromus biebersteinii Roem. & Schult. (Vogel et al. 1996). Bromus riparius differs from that species in having acute lemma apices and, usually, more pubescent leaf blades, sheaths, and lemmas.
The existence of Bromus riparius in the Flora region was not realized until shortly before this treatment was submitted for publication, making it impossible to fully investigate its similarities to B. inermis and B. pumpellianus, particularly subsp. dicksonii. It appears to differ from both species in having shorter culms on average, longer awns than B. inermis, and shorter rhizomes than B. pumpellianus subsp. pumpellianus. Its distribution in the Flora region is not known.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
CA
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
