The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

bald brome, brome a grappes, smooth brome

broom brome

Habit Plants annual. Plants annual.
Culms

20-110 cm, erect or ascending.

(9)20-40 cm, erect or ascending.

Sheaths

sparsely pubescent or glabrous;

ligules 0.8-1.5 mm, glabrous or hairy, obtuse;

blades 5-20 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces 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.

2-7 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, erect, dense, obovoid, wedge-shaped at the base, sometimes interrupted;

branches shorter than the spikelets, erect, straight or almost so, sometimes verticillate.

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.

12-25 mm, lanceolate, crowded, terete to moderately laterally compressed;

florets 5-10, bases concealed at maturity;

rachilla internodes concealed at maturity.

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.

scabrous to pubescent;

lower glumes 3-4 mm, 3-5-veined;

upper glumes 5-7 mm, 5-7-veined;

lemmas 7-10 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, lanceolate, glabrous, obscurely 7-veined, rounded over the midvein, margins rounded, not inrolled at maturity, apices sharply acute, bifid, teeth shorter than 1 mm;

awns 7-10 mm, flattened at the base, divaricate or recurved when mature, arising 1.5 mm or more below the lemma apices;

anthers 0.3-0.5 mm.

Caryopses

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

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 scoparius

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
CA; MI; NY; VA
[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 scoparius is native to southern Europe. It grows in waste places. In the Flora region, it has been recorded from Californica and New York.

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

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 233. FNA vol. 24, p. 235.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Bromeae > Bromus > sect. Bromus Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Bromeae > Bromus > sect. Bromus
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. porteri, B. pseudolaevipes, B. pubescens, B. pumpellianus, B. racemosus, B. ramosus, B. richardsonii, B. riparius, B. rubens, B. secalinus, B. sitchensis, B. squarrosus, B. sterilis, B. suksdorfii, B. tectorum, B. texensis, B. vulgaris
Name authority L. L.
Web links