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cheat brome, cheat grass, downy brome, downy chess, drooping brome

Mexican brome

Habit Plants annual. Plants perennial; not rhizomatous.
Culms

5-90 cm, erect, slender, puberulent below the panicle.

40-90 cm, erect;

nodes (3)4-7(8), these and the internodes pubescent or glabrous.

Sheaths

usually densely and softly retrorsely pubescent to pilose, upper sheaths sometimes glabrous;

auricles absent;

ligules 2-3 mm, glabrous, obtuse, lacerate;

blades to 16 cm long, 1-6 mm wide, both surfaces softly hairy.

glabrous or pilose, midrib of the culm leaves abruptly narrowed just below the collar;

auricles often present on the lower leaves;

ligules to 1 mm, truncate;

blades 14-22(26) cm long, to 6 mm wide, flat, glabrous or pilose, not glaucous.

Panicles

5-20 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, open, lax, drooping distally, usually 1-sided;

branches 1-4 cm, drooping, usually 1-sided and longer than the spikelets, usually at least 1 branch with 4-8 spikelets.

10-20 cm, open, nodding;

branches ascending or spreading.

Spikelets

10-20 mm, usually shorter than the panicle branches, sides parallel or diverging distally, moderately laterally compressed, often purplish-tinged, not densely crowded, with 4-8 florets.

(14)15-30 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, with 4-12 florets.

Glumes

villous, pubescent, or glabrous, margins hyaline;

lower glumes 4-9 mm, 1-veined;

upper glumes 7-13 mm, 3-5-veined;

lemmas 9-12 mm, lanceolate, glabrous or pubescent to pilose, 5-7-veined, rounded over the midvein, margins hyaline, often with some hairs longer than those on the backs, apices acuminate, hyaline, bifid, teeth 0.8-2(3) mm;

awns 10-18 mm, straight, arising 1.5 mm or more below the lemma apices;

anthers 0.5-1 mm.

usually pubescent, rarely glabrous;

lower glumes 5-6 mm, 1-3-veined;

upper glumes 6-8 mm, 3-veined, sometimes mucronate;

lemmas 7-10 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, backs and margins pubescent, apices acute to obtuse, entire;

awns 1-3(5) mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;

anthers 2-4 mm.

2n

= 14.

= 14.

Bromus tectorum

Bromus anomalus

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; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; HI; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NM; TX; AB; BC; SK
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Bromus tectorum is a European species that is well established in the Flora region and other parts of the world. It grows in disturbed sites, such as overgrazed rangelands, fields, sand dunes, road verges, and waste places. In the southwestern United States, Bromus tectorum is considered a good source of spring feed for cattle, at least until the awns mature. It is highly competitive and dominates rapidly after fire, especially in sagebrush areas. The resulting dense, fine fuels permanently shorten the fire-return interval, further hindering reestablishment of native species. It now dominates large areas of the sagebrush ecosystem of the western Flora region.

Specimens with glabrous spikelets have been called Bromus tectorum f. nudus (Klett & Richt.) H. St. John. They occur throughout the range of the species, and are not known to have any other distinguishing characteristics. For this reason, they are not given formal recognition in this treatment.

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

Bromus anomalus grows on rocky slopes in western Texas and adjacent Mexico. Many records of this species in the Flora region are here treated as B. porteri, a closely related species that has sometimes been included in B. anomalus. The main difference is that B. anomalus has auricles, and culm leaves with midribs that are narrowed just below the collar.

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

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 226. FNA vol. 24, p. 213.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Bromeae > Bromus > sect. Genea 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. racemosus, B. ramosus, B. richardsonii, B. riparius, B. rubens, B. scoparius, B. secalinus, B. sitchensis, B. squarrosus, B. sterilis, B. suksdorfii, B. texensis, B. vulgaris
B. aleutensis, 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. scoparius, B. secalinus, B. sitchensis, B. squarrosus, B. sterilis, B. suksdorfii, B. tectorum, B. texensis, B. vulgaris
Synonyms B. tectorum var. nudus, B. tectorum var. glabratus, Anisantha tectorum
Name authority L. Rupr. ex E. Fourn.
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