l64 A MANUAL OF FARM GRASSES 



Brome grasses (species of Bromus). — ^There are several 

 species of brome grasses abundantly introduced on the 

 Pacific Coast. These germinate in the spring, cover the 

 foothills with green and by midsummer ripen their seed, 

 and present a desolate waste of brown. These brome 

 grasses are distinguished by the several-flowered, usually 

 awned spikelets, that at maturity easily break up into 

 the separate bristle-pointed florets or fruits. Chess or 

 cheat is a kind of brome grass (see page 133). 



Barley grasses (species of Hordeum). — Two annual 

 species are common on the Pacific Coast under the same 

 conditions that favor the brome grasses. They are low 

 bushy-branched plants with close oblong strongly 

 bearded heads an inch or two long. One of these species 

 {H. Gussoneanum Pari.) has a cylindric head that does 

 not break up at maturity. The other, more common 

 and troublesome {H. murinum L.), has a flattish head 

 which breaks up at maturity into sharp-pointed joints. 

 The long awns or bristles and the joints are strongly 

 roughened, making the fruit (or so-called seeds) a great 

 nuisance. They work their way into clothing, into wool, 

 and still worse into the noses and into the lining of the 

 mouths of animals. This species extends into the Great 

 Basin where it is a troublesome weed in alfalfa fields. 

 It is called foxtail in many parts of the West. 



A perennial species of Hordeum {H. jubatum L.) is 

 troublesome in the Rocky Mountain and Great Basin 

 regions. This is called squirrel-tail grass and in some 

 places foxtail. The species may be distinguished by the 

 feathery oblong or cylindric head, turning white at 

 maturity, and the numerous very slender wide-spreading 



