Scientific Name

Bromus marginatus Nees ex Steud.

Common Name(s)

Mountain brome

Tribe / Family Name

Bromeae

Flowering Period

July to August

Symbol

BRMA4

Description

Mountain brome is a native cool-season perennial bunchgrass that reproduces by seeds and tillers. Culms usually range from 30–120 cm in height. Its inflorescence is a narrow to open panicle that is usually 10–30 cm long and erect to nodding. Spikelets are 25–40 mm long, strongly compressed, and 5- to 11-flowered. Glumes are lanceolate, smooth or scaberulous, strongly keeled, and unequal (lower glumes 7–11 mm long, 3- to 5-nerved; upper glumes 9–13 mm long, 5- to 7-nerved). Lemmas are usually 11–17 mm long, glabrous to slightly hirsute, keeled, 7- to 9-nerved, bifid at maturity, and awned (awns 4–8 mm long and straight). Sheaths are usually closed nearly to the top, pilose (at least at the throat), and rarely glabrous. Auricles are absent. Ligules are up to 4 mm long, membranous, acute or obtuse, erose or lacerate, and glabrous. Blades are 15–40 cm long, up to 10 mm wide, flat, and scabrous to pilose or glabrous.

General Info

This short-lived species can normally be found along roadsides, in waste places, valleys and foothills, meadows, open forests, on mountain slopes, and ridge tops.

Similar Species

Mountain brome can look similar to smooth brome (Bromus inermis). The growth habit of mountain brome is a bunchgrass, and the growth habit of smooth brome is a rhizomatous sod-forming grass. Also, mountain brome has spikelets that are strongly compressed and awned up to 8 mm long, and smooth brome has spikelets that are terete and either awned (up to 3 mm long) or unawned. Additionally, the leaves of smooth brome has a conspicuous “W” or “M” crimped into the widest part of the leaf, and mountain brome does not.