DOWNY BROME
File Size: 118 KB
 
Bromus tectorum  L.
Russell County, Kansas
Annual
Height: 8-24 inches
Family: Poaceae - Grass Family
Flowering Period:   May, June, July
Also Called: Cheatgrass.
Culms: Erect, slender, solitary or tufted, glabrous.
Blades: Flat, 1/2 to 7 inches long, less than 1/4 inch wide, soft-hairy.
Sheaths: Rough, flattened toward collar, soft-hairy.
Ligules: Membranous, jagged-toothed.
Inflorescences: Panicles, open, 2 to 8 inches long, much-branched, drooping, somewhat 1-sided, often purplish at maturity.
Spikelets: Slender-stalked, 4-8-flowered, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long; glumes unequal, soft-hairy; lemmas to 1/2 inch long, downy, awns 1/2 to 3/4 inch long.
Habitat: Dry disturbed sites, roadsides, and waste areas.
Distribution: Throughout Kansas.
Origin: Introduced from Europe.
Forage Value: Downy brome offers fairly good forage value prior to inflorescence emergence but has practically no value after that time. Songbirds and turkeys consume the seeds.
Comments: Tufted. An aggressive, cool season weed. The awns can injure the eyes and mouths of grazing livestock and contaminate fleece.

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