Richardson brome is a characteristic representative of the group 

 of perennial bromes which have nodding seed heads (panicles). The 

 species is widespread, extending: from SaskatcheAvan to Newfound- 

 land, West Virginia, Tennessee, and westward to Texas and California. 



Richardson brome is a perennial bunchgrass but is not so strongly 

 tuft-forming as are some of the fescues with which it is associated. 

 It has deep, extensive roots but no underground stems (rootstocks). 

 This species occurs commonly in the aspen, spruce-fir, ponderosa 

 pine, and lodgepole pine types in good, reasonably moist soil. It 

 grows in shaded areas and in canyon bottoms and also on open 

 slopes and in moist mountain parks, meadows, and valleys. Fre- 

 quent associates include blue grama, pinegrass, various bluegrasses 

 and wheatgrasses, oakbrush, and rabbitbrush. 



Richardson brome ranks with the choicest forage grasses in pala- 

 tability. It is relished by all classes of livestock, especially cattle 

 and horses, until late in the season. Sheep like the maturing seed 

 heads. Elk and deer also graze this grass. Although this brome is 

 not so abundant generally as are some of the more prominent western 

 grasses and seldom occurs in dense stands, yet, because of its local 

 abundance and wide distribution, it supplies a large amount of forage. 



In favorable sites Richardson brome grows up to about 4 feet high. 

 Its stems are quite leafy, strong, but not coarse. The basal leaves 

 are also plentiful. The leaf blades vary from 4 to 15 inches long, 

 but commonly are 6 to 10 inches. 



Porter brome (B. ano'malus, syn. B. por'teri) , one of the common- 

 est Rocky Mountain bromes, resembles Richardson brome in most re- 

 spects. Its general range is the same except for the three Pacific 

 Coast States where its occurrence is probably limited to California 

 the one range State where Richardson brome probably is not found. 



The site requirements of Porter brome are essentially those of 

 Richardson brome, except possibly that it prefers somewhat lower 

 elevations. Their plant associates are about the same. Porter brome 

 also is a forage plant of first rank for all classes of livestock. Pre- 

 liminary reseeding experiments 1 in central Utah resulted in a fair 

 stand, although results were not so successful as with the big mountain 

 bromes. 



The botanical differences between Richardson and Porter bromes 

 are rather slight. In Porter brome the entire back of the outer 

 flower bract (lemma) is densely silky -hairy; in Richardson brome 

 this hairiness is restricted to the lemma margins and base. Rich- 

 ardson brome has but one vein (nerve) on the lower of the two 

 spikelet bracts (glumes), while Porter brome has three. On an 

 average Richardson brome seems to be about 6 inches taller than 

 Porter brome, and has somewhat wider leaf blades. 



1 Forsling, C. L., and Dayton, W. A. AHTIFICVM. IIESEEOING ON WESTERN MOUNTAIN 

 RANOB LANDS. U. S. Dept. Agr. Circ. 178, 48 pp., illus. 1931. 



