Bromus tectorum |
Bromus grandis |
|
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cheat brome, cheat grass, downy brome, downy chess, drooping brome |
tall brome |
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Habit | Plants annual. | Plants perennial; not rhizomatous. |
Culms | 5-90 cm, erect, slender, puberulent below the panicle. |
70-180 cm, erect; nodes 3-7, pubescent or puberulent; internodes pubescent, puberulent, 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. |
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 | 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. |
14-27 cm long, very open, nodding; branches flexuous, usually widely spreading, with spikelets near the tips. |
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. |
20-37(45) mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, with 4-9(10) 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. |
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. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14. |
Bromus tectorum |
Bromus grandis |
|
Distribution |
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
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CA |
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 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. 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 | ||
Synonyms | B. tectorum var. nudus, B. tectorum var. glabratus, Anisantha tectorum | B. orcuttianus var. grandis |
Name authority | L. | (Shear) Hitchc. |
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