Bromus tectorum |
Bromus ramosus |
|
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cheat brome, cheat grass, downy brome, downy chess, drooping brome |
hairy brome |
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Habit | Plants annual. | Plants perennial; not rhizomatous. |
Culms | 5-90 cm, erect, slender, puberulent below the panicle. |
40-190 cm, erect; nodes 2-4, usually pubescent; internodes usually pubescent. |
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. |
with long, stiff, retrorse hairs, at least on the lower portion, midrib of the culm leaves not abruptly narrowed just below the collar; auricles present; ligules 2-3.5 mm, glabrous or sparsely pilose, rounded to truncate, erose; blades 10-60 cm long, 6-15 mm wide, flat, drooping, glabrous or sparsely hairy. |
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. |
15-40 cm long, open, lax, drooping; branches spreading or drooping. |
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. |
20-40 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, with 3-10 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. |
glabrous, scabridulous over the veins; lower glumes 5-8 mm, 1-veined; upper glumes 8-11 mm, 3-veined, mucronate; lemmas 10-14 mm, lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, margins and at least the lower 1/2 of the backs pubescent, apices acute, entire or emarginate, lobes shorter than 1 mm; awns 4-7 mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices; anthers 2.5-4 mm. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14, 28, 42. |
Bromus tectorum |
Bromus ramosus |
|
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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DC; KY; LA; ME; MS |
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 ramosus is native to Asia, Europe, and northern Africa. It is included here based on Pavlick's (1995) statement that it is found sporadically in the southern and eastern United States; specimens to substantiate his statement have not been located. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 226. | FNA vol. 24, p. 220. |
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 | |
Name authority | L. | Huds. |
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