MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



49 



(Schrad.) Koch. Spikelets pubescent. 

 O — Oregon (Corvallis, The Dalles). 

 Europe. 



The species of the group containing 

 Bromus secalinus, B. commutatus, B. 

 mollis, and B. racemosus are closely 

 allied, differentiated only by arbi- 

 trary characters. The forms are recog- 

 nized as species in most recent 

 European floras and this disposition 

 is here followed. 



Figure 28. — Bromus commutatus, X 5. (Amer. Gr. 

 Natl. Herb. 890, Va.) 



29. Bromus commutatus Schrad. 

 Hairy chess. (Fig. 28.) Resembling 

 B. secalinus, but the sheaths retrorse- 

 ly pilose; the blades more or less 

 pubescent; lemmas at maturity less 



plump and more overlapping; awn 

 commonly somewhat longer. O — 

 Introduced from Europe, a weed in 

 fields and waste places, Washington 

 to California, Montana, and Wyo- 

 ming, eastward through the Northern 

 States, thence less commonly south- 

 ward. Bromus commutatus var. 

 apricorum Simonkai. Lemmas pubes- 

 cent. O ■ — Washington, Nevada, 

 and California; rare. Introduced from 

 Europe. 



30. Bromus mollis L. Soft chess. 

 (Fig. 29.) Softly pubescent through- 

 out; culms erect, 20 to 80 cm. tall; 

 panicle erect, contracted, 5 to 10 cm. 

 long, or, in depauperate plants, re- 

 duced to a few spikelets; glumes 

 broad, obtuse, coarsely pilose or sca- 

 brous-pubescent, the first 3- to 5- 

 nerved, 4 to 6 mm. long, the second 

 5- to 7-nerved, 7 to 8 mm. long; 

 lemmas broad, soft, obtuse, 7-nerved, 



Figure 29 — Bromus mollis, X 1. (Hall 258, Calif.) 



coarsely pilose or scabrous-pubescent, 

 rather deeply bidentate, 8 to 9 mm. 

 long, the margin and apex hyaline; 

 awn rather stout, 6 to 9 mm. long; 

 palea about three-fourths as long 

 as lemma. O — Weed in waste 



