Vulpia octoflora
Vulpia bromoides
eight-flower six-weeks grass, pullout grass, six-weeks fescue, six-weeks grass, six-weeks vulpia
barren fescue, barren vulpia, brome fescue, brome six-weeks grass, desert fescue, rattail fescue
5-60 cm, solitary or loosely tufted, glabrous or pubescent.
5-50 cm, solitary or loosely tufted, erect or decumbent, smooth, scabridulous, or puberulent, unbranched distally.
glabrous or pubescent;
ligules 0.3-1 mm;
blades to 10 cm long, 0.5-1 mm wide, flat or rolled, glabrous or pubescent.
glabrous or puberulent;
ligules to 0.5(1) mm;
blades usually 2-10 cm long, 0.5-2.5 mm wide, rolled or flat, glabrous or puberulent.
1-7(20) cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide, with 1-2 branches per node;
branches appressed to spreading.
1.5-15 cm long, 0.5-3 cm wide, conspicuously exserted, with 1 branch per node;
branches usually appressed to erect at maturity, without axillary pulvini;
pedicels flattened, sometimes clavate distally.
4-10(13) mm, with (4)5-11(17) florets;
rachilla internodes 0.5-0.7 mm.
5-10 mm, with 4-8 florets, not closely imbricate;
rachilla internodes 0.6-1.1 mm.
1.7-4.5 mm, 1/2 - 2/3 the length of the upper glumes;
upper glumes 2.5-7.2 mm;
lemmas 2.7-6.5 mm, 5-veined, smooth, scabrous, or pubescent, apices entire, no more pubescent than the bases, awns of the lowermost lemma in each spikelet 0.3-9 mm;
paleas slightly shorter than the lemmas, apices entire or minutely bifid, teeth shorter than 0.2 mm;
anthers 0.3-1.5 mm.
3.5-5 mm, 1/2 - 4/5 the length of the upper glumes;
upper glumes 4.5-9.5 mm, midveins scabrous distally;
lemmas 4-8 mm, 5-veined, scabrous distally, apices entire, awns of the lowermost lemma in each spikelet 2-13 mm;
paleas 4-6.3 mm, equaling or shorter than the lemmas, minutely bifid;
anthers 0.4-0.6(1.5) mm.
1.7-3.7 mm.
3.5-5 mm.
= 14.
= 14.
Vulpia octoflora
Vulpia bromoides
Vulpia octoflora, a widespread native species, tends to be displaced by the introduced Bromus tectorum in the Pacific Northwest. It grows in grasslands, sagebrush, and open woodlands, as well as in disturbed habitats and areas of secondary succession, such as old fields, roadsides, and ditches. Three varieties are recognized here, but their characterization is not completely satisfactory, e.g., plants of the southwestern United States with spikelets in the size range of var. glauca often have densely pubescent lemmas, the distinguishing characteristic of var. birtella.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Vulpia bromoides is a common European species that grows in wet to dry, open habitats. It is adventive and naturalized in North and South America. In North America, it is most common on the west coast, where it grows from British Columbia to northern Baja California; it occurs sparingly in other regions.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Spikelets usually 4-6.5 mm long; awn of the lowermost lemma in each spikelet 0.3-3 mm long | var. glauca |
1. Spikelets usually 5.5-13 mm long; awn of the lowermost lemma in each spikelet 2.5-9 mm long. | → 2 |
2. Lemmas scabrous to pubescent | var. hirtella |
2. Lemmas usually smooth, sometimes scabridulous distally and on the margins | var. octoflora |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
- Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA
- Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, Go Botany, IL Wildflowers, LA Plants, MO Plants, PNW Herbaria
- WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
