Bromus tectorum
Bromus erectus
cheat brome, cheat grass, downy brome, downy chess, drooping brome
brome dresse, erect brome, meadow brome, upright brome
5-90 cm, erect, slender, puberulent below the panicle.
50-100 cm, erect;
nodes (1)2-3, usually glabrous, rarely pubescent;
internodes usually glabrous, rarely pubescent.
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;
auricles absent;
ligules to 1.5 mm, glabrous, truncate, lacerate;
blades 10-20 cm long, 2-6 mm wide, often involute or folded, glabrous or sparingly hairy.
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, erect, contracted;
branches erect or ascending.
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.
15-30 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, with 5-8(12) florets.
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.
glabrous;
lower glumes 7-9 mm, 1-veined;
upper glumes 9-11 mm, 3-veined;
lemmas 10-13(15) mm, lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, backs and margins glabrous or sparsely pubescent, apices subulate to acute, entire;
awns 5-7 mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;
anthers 4-6.5 mm.
= 14.
= 56.
Bromus tectorum
Bromus erectus
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 erectus is native to Europe. In the Flora region, it grows on disturbed soils, often over limestone. It is established in the eastern United States and Canada, and has been reported from other locations where it has not persisted.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
