Bromus tectorum
Bromus riparius
cheat brome, cheat grass, downy brome, downy chess, drooping brome
meadow brome
5-90 cm, erect, slender, puberulent below the panicle.
30-90 cm, erect or decumbent, forming distinct clumps;
nodes 2-3, glabrous or puberulent;
internodes glabrous or puberulent.
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 with hairs;
auricles to 1 mm on the lower leaves;
ligules 0.4-1.0 mm, glabrous or ciliate, truncate, erose;
blades 10-20 cm long, 2-3 mm wide, scabridulous, glabrous or sparsely pilose, margins sometimes ciliate.
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.
8-20 cm long, lax;
branches scabridulous, with 1-2 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.
20-32 mm, lanceolate, becoming cuneate, with 5-8 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, sometimes scabridulous on the veins;
lower glumes 6.5-10 mm, 1(3)-veined;
upper glumes 7.5-12 mm, 3-5-veined;
lemmas 10-13 mm, oblong to lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, 7-veined, glabrous or appressed-hairy, sometimes scabridulous, apices acute, entire or minutely bifid;
awns 4-8 mm, straight or slightly spreading, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;
anthers 2.5-5.2 mm.
= 14.
= 70.
Bromus tectorum
Bromus riparius
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 riparius is an Asian species that was introduced to the United States in the late 1950s for cultivation as a pasture grass. Various cultivars are now grown, mainly in Canada and the northwestern United States. The description given here is derived in part from cultivated specimens. North American plants have sometimes been referred to, incorrectly, as Bromus biebersteinii Roem. & Schult. (Vogel et al. 1996). Bromus riparius differs from that species in having acute lemma apices and, usually, more pubescent leaf blades, sheaths, and lemmas.
The existence of Bromus riparius in the Flora region was not realized until shortly before this treatment was submitted for publication, making it impossible to fully investigate its similarities to B. inermis and B. pumpellianus, particularly subsp. dicksonii. It appears to differ from both species in having shorter culms on average, longer awns than B. inermis, and shorter rhizomes than B. pumpellianus subsp. pumpellianus. Its distribution in the Flora region is not known.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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