HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



89b. Leaf blades 5 — 10 mm. wide, densely hairy; Minnesota and Iowa 

 eastward. Fig. 125. 

 WILD CHESS Bromus kalmii A. Gray 



Perennial; tufted; plants 50 — 100 cm. tall; panicles 

 small, 5 — 10 cm. long, drooping. The lemmas are 

 very conspicuously hairy. This and the preceding 

 species are the only native perennial woodland spe- 

 cies with 3-nerved first glumes. Roadsides and 

 open woods. July — August. 



Figure 125 



90a. Lemmas hairy. Fig. 126. 



Bromus mollis L 



Figure 1 26 



Annual; tufted; plants 20 — 80 cm. tall; leaf 

 sheaths and blades softly hairy; panicles stiff, 

 dense, and erect, 5 — 10 cm. long; glumes and lem- 

 mas hairy; first glume with 3 or 5 nerves, the sec- 

 ond with 5 or 7; lemmas soft, with 7 nerves, usually 

 7 — 9 mm. long. This weedy species was introduced 

 from Europe. It is found occasionally in the eastern 

 and middlewestern states, but has become very 

 abxmdant in the Pacific Coast states. It provides 

 short-season spring forage, but because of its shal- 

 low roots and annual habit, does not effectively 

 protect the soil from erosion and is regarded as 

 much inferior to Jhe perennial grasses which it re- 

 places in overgrazed areas. April — June. Bromus 

 moJiis hybridizes with the next species. 



66 



