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bald brome, brome a grappes, smooth brome

tall brome

Habit Plants annual. Plants perennial; not rhizomatous.
Culms

20-110 cm, erect or ascending.

70-180 cm, erect;

nodes 3-7, pubescent or puberulent;

internodes pubescent, puberulent, or glabrous.

Sheaths

densely pubescent, hairs to 1 mm, collars with hairs to 2 mm, midrib of the culm leaves not abruptly narrowed just below the collar;

auricles sometimes present;

ligules 1-3 mm, densely pubescent to pilose, obtuse, lacerate;

blades (13)18-38 cm long, 3-12 mm wide, flat, sparsely to densely pubescent on both surfaces.

Panicles

4-16 cm long, 2-3 cm wide, erect, open;

branches sometimes longer than the spikelets, slender, usually ascending, slightly curved or straight.

14-27 cm long, very open, nodding;

branches flexuous, usually widely spreading, with spikelets near the tips.

Spikelets

12-20 mm, lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed;

florets 5-6, bases concealed at maturity;

rachilla internodes 1-1.5 mm, concealed at maturity.

20-37(45) mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, with 4-9(10) florets.

Glumes

smooth to scabrous;

lower glumes 4-6 mm, (3)5-veined;

upper glumes 4-7 mm, 7-veined;

lemmas 6.5-8 mm long, 3-4.5 mm wide, elliptic to lanceolate, coriaceous, backs smooth, distinctly 7(9)-veined, not ribbed, rounded over the midvein, margins scabrous, rounded, not inrolled at maturity, apices acute to obtuse, bifid, teeth shorter than 1 mm;

awns 5-9 mm, all more or less equal in length, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;

anthers 1.5-3 mm.

pubescent, with prominent veins, margins not bronze-tinged;

lower glumes 4-8.5 mm, (1)3-veined;

upper glumes 7-10 mm, 3(5)-veined, not mucronate;

lemmas 9.5-14 mm, lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, backs pilose, pubescent, or glabrous, margins pilose, not bronze-tinged, apices subulate to acute, entire;

awns 3-7 mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;

anthers 3-6 mm.

Caryopses

shorter than the paleas, thin, weakly inrolled or flat.

Lower

sheaths densely hairy, hairs stiff, often retrorse;

upper sheaths glabrous or pubescent;

ligules 1-2 mm, glabrous or hairy, erose;

blades 7-18 cm long, 1-4 mm wide, pilose on both surfaces.

2n

= 28.

= 14.

Bromus racemosus

Bromus grandis

Distribution
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; LB; NB; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK
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from FNA
CA
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Discussion

Bromus racemosus grows in fields, waste places, and road verges. It is native to western Europe and the Baltic region, and occurs throughout much of southern Canada and the United States. Hitchcock (1951) included B. hordeaceus subsp. pseudothominei in B. racemosus.

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

Bromus grandis grows on dry, wooded or open slopes, at elevations of 350-2500 m. Its range extends from central California into Baja California, Mexico.

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

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 233. FNA vol. 24, p. 213.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Bromeae > Bromus > sect. Bromus 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. 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. 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. 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 B. orcuttianus var. grandis
Name authority L. (Shear) Hitchc.
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