MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



39 



ing panicles, and smooth or somewhat scabrous lemmas; awns 4 to 6 

 mm long. % — Montana to eastern Washington, south to Colorado, 

 Arizona, and (rarely) California. A larger laxer form with more 

 spreading panicles, the upper part somewhat nodding, has been called 

 B. polyanthus paniculatus Shear; mountains of Colorado, whence 

 originally described, to Utah, south to New Mexico and Arizona. 



Bromus laciniatus Beal. Tall slender per- 

 ennial; blades flat; panicles 20 to 30 cm long, 

 open, drooping; spikelets flattened, about 3 cm 

 long, mostly purplish; lemmas keeled, awned. 

 % (B. pendulinus Sesse.) — Occasionally culti- 

 vated for ornament; Mexico. 



Section 2. Bromopsis Dum; 



Perennials; panicles mostly open ; spike- 

 lets rather elongate, subterete or 

 slightly compressed before flowering ; 

 florets closely overlapping. 



6. Bromus inermis Leyss. Smooth 

 brome. (Fig. 13.) Culms erect, 50 to 

 1 00 cm tall, from creeping rhizomes ; ligule 

 1 .5 to 2 mm long ; blades smooth or nearly 

 so, 5 to 10 mm wide; panicle 10 to 20 cm 

 long, erect, the branches whorled, spread- 

 ing in flower, contracted at maturity; 

 spikelets 2 to 2.5 cm long, subterete 

 before flowering ; first glume 4 to 5 mm 

 long, the second 6 to 8 mm long ; lemmas 

 9 to 12 mm long, glabrous or somewhat 

 scabrous, rarely villous, obtuse, emargi- 

 nate, mucronate, or with an awn 1 to 2 mm 

 long. % — Cultivated as hay and pas- 

 ture grass, especially from Minnesota 

 and Kansas to eastern Oregon and 

 Washington, occasionally eastward to 

 Michigan and Ohio, now running wild in 

 these regions; introduced along roads 

 and in waste places in the northern half 

 of the United States. Also used for re- 

 seeding western mountain ranges. 



7. Bromus pumpellianus Scribn. (Fig. 

 14.) Resembling B. inermis; culms 50 to 

 120 cm tall, from creeping rhizomes; 

 sheaths glabrous or pubescent; blades 

 rather short, mostly glabrous beneath, 

 scabrous or somewhat pubescent on upper surface; panicle 10 to 20 cm 

 long, rather narrow, erect, the branches short, erect, or ascending; spike- 

 lets 7- to 11 -flowered, 2 to 3 cm long; first glume 1 -nerved, the second 3- 

 nerved ; lemmas 10 to 12 mm long, 5- to 7-nerved, pubescent along the 

 margin and across the back at base, slightly emarginate ; awn mostly 2 to 

 3 mm long. % — Meadows and grassy slopes, Colorado to the Black 



Figure 13.— Bromus inermis. Plant, X Y< 

 spikelet, X 2^. (Deam 11633, Ind.) 



