GRASSES OF OHIO 273 



1. Bromus brizaeformis Fisch. & Mey. Awnless Chess. An 

 annual grass with stems 1-2 ft. high, erect, simple, the sheaths and 

 blades pubescent. Panicle open and drooping; spikelets broadly 

 ovate y 2 -l in. long, awnless; lemma very broad, obtuse, 9-nerved, 

 shining. 



In fields and waste places. July, August. Introduced from 

 Europe. Cuyahoga County. 



2. Bromus kalmii Or. Kalm's Chess. A perennial grass with 

 a slender stem, 1-3 ft. high, the sheaths and blades pubescent. 

 Panicle open 2-6 inches long, its branches usually flexuous ; spikelets 

 drooping on capillary peduncles, densely silky pubescent all over; 

 lemma 7-nerved, with a straight awn. 



In dry ground, woods and thickets. June, July. Franklin, Lucas. 



3. Bromus hordeaceus L. Soft Chess. An annual grass, the 

 whole plant more or less pubescent, 1-3 ft. high, erect, with a rather 

 contracted panicle with erect or ascending branches. Spikelets ap- 

 pressed-pubescent, on short pedicels ; lemma awned, 7-9 nerved, 

 awned between the obtuse or acute teeth. The var. leptostachys 

 (Perr.) Beck, has glabrous or slightly scabrous spikelets. 



A weed in fields and waste places. July, August. Introduced, 

 Wayne, Lorain. 



4. Bromus secalinus L. Common Chess. An annual grass 

 with an erect stem 1-3 ft. high, its sheaths smooth and strongly 

 nerved but the blades glabrous, rough, or sometimes hairy. Spikelets 

 glabrous, turgid on somewhat drooping branches of the open panicle ; 

 lemma short-awned, becoming convex, thick and inrolled at the mar- 

 gins. 



Common in fields and waste places and often a pernicious weed 

 in grain fields. According to an old superstition wheat changes to 

 this chess which is, of course, absolutely impossible. Also called 

 cheat. Naturalized from Europe. General and abundant. 



5. Bromus racemdsus L. Upright Chess. An annual erect 

 grass, 1-3 ft. high, with pubescent sheaths and short erect panicles. 

 Spikelets glabrous; lemma obtuse, awned, smooth and shining, the 

 nerves prominent. 



In fields and waste places. June-August. Naturalized from 

 Europe. General and abundant. 



6. Bromus arvensis L. Field Chess. An annual grass with 

 erect stems, 1-3 ft. high, pubescent sheaths, and large open panicles 

 with long drooping branches. Spikelets, lanceolate, somewhat shin- 

 ing; lemma smooth or minutely scabrous, 5-nerved, broadest at the 

 middle, bearing an erect awn. 



In fields and waste places. Summer. Introduced from Europe. 

 Franklin County. 



