SMOOTH BROME
File Size: 173 KB
 
Bromus inermis  Leyss.
Ottawa County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 16 - 48 inches
Family: Poaceae Grass - Family
Flowering Period:   May, June, July
Culms: Erect or rarely decumbent, glabrous.
Blades: Flat, 4-16 inches long, 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide, glabrous or pubescent, conspicuous "W" constriction on blades; margins rough.
Sheaths: Round, prominently veined, glabrous or soft-hairy, waxy.
Ligules: Membranous, minutely jagged.
Inflorescences: Panicles, erect, 4-9 inches long, open or contracted, lowest branches whorled, terminal.
Spikelets: Approximately 1 inch long, less than 1/4 inch wide, pointed, often drooping, 4-10-flowered; glumes unequal, papery, first glume 1-nerved, second glume usually 3-nerved; lemmas greenish to purplish, mostly without awns, longer than glumes.
Habitat: Roadsides, pastures, hayfields, waterways, ditches, and waste areas, more abundant in highly fertile sandy loam or clay loam soils.
Distribution: Throughout Kansas.
Origin: Introduced from Eurasia into the U. S. in the 1880s, and now naturalized.
Forage Value: Smooth brome is highly nutritious and palatable to livestock. It makes excellent hay and forage.
Comments: Strongly rhizomatous. Smooth brome is widely planted for pasture grazing, hay, wildlife cover, and to prevent soil erosion. It frequently escapes into other habitats. The prominent W-shaped constriction on the leaf blades readily distinguishes smooth brome.

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