Bromus riparius

Rehmann
Common names: Meadow brome
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 24. Treatment on page 206.
Please click on the illustration for a higher resolution version.
Illustrator: Cindy Roché

Copyright: Utah State University

Plants perennial; cespitose, shortly rhizomatous. Culms 30-90 cm, erect or decumbent, forming distinct clumps; nodes 2-3, glabrous or puberulent; internodes glabrous or puberulent. Sheaths 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. Panicles 8-20 cm long, lax; branches scabridulous, with 1-2 spikelets. Spikelets 20-32 mm, lanceolate, becoming cuneate, with 5-8 florets. Glumes 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. 2n = 70.

Discussion

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.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"decumbent" is not a number.

... more about "Bromus riparius"
membranous +  and scarious +
0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br /> (0.52 cm5.2 mm <br />0.0052 m <br />) +
bifid +  and entire +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
Leon E. Pavlickf +
Rehmann +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
straight +
distinct +
arising +  and spreading +
subterminal +  and terminal +
geniculate +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br />) +
not evident +
pilose +  and glabrous +
scabridulous +
cross +, linear +  and narrowly lanceolate +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
drooping;reflexed;usually ascending;spreading +
scabridulous +
spikelike +
Meadow brome +
not branching +
decumbent +  and erect +
30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br /> (90 cm900 mm <br />0.9 m <br />) +
not woody +
Conn. +, Mass. +, N.H. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, Calif. +, Del. +, N.C. +, Va. +, W.Va. +, Vt. +, D.C +, Wis. +, Colo. +, Kans. +, Nebr. +, Okla. +, Idaho +, Mont. +, Oreg. +, Wash. +, Wyo. +, Pacific Islands (Hawaii) +, N.Mex. +, Utah +, Maine +, R.I. +, Fla. +, Ala. +, Ark. +, Ariz. +, Ga. +, Iowa +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Ky. +, La. +, Md. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, Mo. +, Miss. +, N.Dak. +, Nev. +, Ohio +, Pa. +, S.Dak. +, Tenn. +, Tex. +, Alaska +, S.C. +, Alta. +, B.C. +, Greenland +, Man. +, N.B. +, Nfld. and Labr. +, N.S. +, N.W.T. +, Nunavut +, Ont. +, P.E.I. +, Que. +, Sask. +  and Yukon +
liquid +, soft +  and hard +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
sometimes longer +
5 +  and 8 +
terete +  and laterally compressed +
1-9(11)-veined +
always shorter +  and usually shorter +
lanceolate +
subtending +
scabridulous +
mucronate +  and acute +
unequal +
uncinate +
solid +  and hollow +
puberulent +  and glabrous +
appressed-hairy +  and glabrous +
scabridulous +
rounded +, oblong +  and lanceolate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br />) +
herbaceous +  and coriaceous +
lacerate +
0.04 cm0.4 mm <br />4.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
lanceolate +
fleshy +  and membranous +
0.65 cm6.5 mm <br />0.0065 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
concealed +  and prominent +
puberulent +  and glabrous +
2 +  and 3 +
2 +  and 1 +
hairy +  and glabrous +
well-developed +
reduced +
8cm +  and 20cm +
dry +  and fleshy +
with hairs +  and glabrous +
not viviparous +
cuneate +  and lanceolate +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (3.2 cm32 mm <br />0.032 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
simple +  and compound +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
Gramineae +
Bromus riparius +
Bromus sect. Bromopsis +
species +
membranous +
0.75 cm7.5 mm <br />0.0075 m <br /> (1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br />) +
plant +  and cespitose +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +