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bald brome, brome a grappes, smooth brome

nodding brome, Porter brome, Porter's brome

Habit Plants annual. Plants perennial; not rhizomatous.
Culms

20-110 cm, erect or ascending.

30-100 cm, erect;

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

internodes mostly glabrous, puberulent near the nodes.

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.

Panicles

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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 porteri

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

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. 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
Synonyms Bromopsis ported
Name authority L. (J.M. Coult.) Nash
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