Bromus tectorum
Bromus latiglumis
cheat brome, cheat grass, downy brome, downy chess, drooping brome
broad-glumed brome, brome a larges glumes, early-leaf brome, flanged brome, hairy woodbrome
5-90 cm, erect, slender, puberulent below the panicle.
80-150 cm, erect;
nodes 9-20, glabrous, usually concealed by the leaf sheaths;
internodes usually glabrous, sometimes hairy just below the nodes.
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.
overlapping, densely to moderately retrorsely pilose or glabrous over most of their surface, throats and collars densely pilose;
auricles 1-2.5 mm on most lower leaves;
ligules 0.8-1.4 mm, hirsute, ciliate, truncate, erose;
blades 20-30 cm long, 5-15 mm wide, flat, usually glabrous, rarely pilose, with 2 prominent flanges at the collar.
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.
10-22 cm, open, nodding;
branches spreading to 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 4-9 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.
pubescent or glabrous;
lower glumes 4-7.5 mm, 1(3)-veined;
upper glumes 6-9 mm, 3-veined, sometimes mucronate;
lemmas 8-14 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, backs glabrous or pilose to pubescent, margins long-pilose, apices obtuse to acute, entire;
awns 3-4.5(7) mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;
anthers 2-3 mm.
= 14.
= 14.
Bromus tectorum
Bromus latiglumis
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 latiglumis grows in shaded or open woods, along stream banks, and on alluvial plains and slopes. Its range is mainly in the north-central and northeastern United States and adjacent Canadian provinces. Specimens with decumbent, weak, sprawling culms, densely hairy sheaths, and heavy panicles can be called Bromus latiglumis i. incanus (Shear) Fernald.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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