Bromus tectorum
Bromus nottowayanus
cheat brome, cheat grass, downy brome, downy chess, drooping brome
glossy-leaf brome, Nottoway Valley brome, satin brome, Virginia brome
5-90 cm, erect, slender, puberulent below the panicle.
(60)70-140 cm, erect or spreading;
nodes 5-9, pubescent or glabrous, often concealed by the sheaths;
internodes usually glabrous.
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.
usually retrorsely pilose, sometimes glabrous, with a dense line of hairs at the collar, lower sheaths often sericeous;
auricles absent;
ligules 0.4-1 mm, often hairy, truncate, erose, ciliolate;
blades 15-30 cm long, 5-12 mm wide, often shiny yellow-green, flat, abaxial surfaces pilose, adaxial surfaces glabrous or pilose over the veins.
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.
9-25 cm, open, nodding;
branches ascending or spreading, often recurved.
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.
18-30 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, often purplish, with 6-12 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.
usually pubescent;
lower glumes 5.5-8 mm, 1(3)-veined;
upper glumes 7-10 mm, 5-veined, often mucronate;
lemmas 8-13 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, usually uniformly densely hairy, or the backs less densely so, apices acute to obtuse, entire;
awns 5-8 mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;
anthers 2.8-3.5(5) mm.
= 14.
= 14.
Bromus tectorum
Bromus nottowayanus
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 nottowayanus is native to the east-central and eastern United States from Iowa to New York, south to Oklahoma, northern Alabama, and Virginia. It grows in damp, shaded woods, often in ravines and along streams.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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