GRASS FAMILY 
193 
glumes broad, obtuse, coarsely pilose or scabrous-pubescent, the first 
•3 to 5-nerved, the second 5 to 7-nerved; lemmas obtuse, 7-nerved, 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.—Weed 
in open hillsides, waste places and cultivated soil, abundant; nat. from 
Eur. This aggressive alien is typical of the immigrant bromes. Within 
the last forty years it has crowded valuable native plants off the ranges. 
Though cattle eat it green, they will not touch it when it is dry. 
6. B. secalinus L. Cheat. Chess. Culms erect, 3 to 6 dm. high; 
sheaths smooth; panicle pyramidal, drooping, 8 to 15 cm. long, open, 
the lower branches 3 to 5, unequal ; spikelets ovoid-lanceolate, becoming 
somewhat turgid in fruit, 1.2 to 1.5 cm. long; glumes obtuse, the first 
3 to 5-nerved, the second 7-nerved; lemmas 7-nerved, 6 to 8 mm. long, 
elliptic, obtuse, smooth or scabrous, the margin strongly involute in fruit, 
apex shortly bidentate, the undulate awn usually 3 to 6 mm. long. In 
fruit the turgid florets are somewhat distant so that, viewing the spikelet 
sidewise, the light passes through the small openings at the base of each 
floret.—Weed in grain fields and waste places; nat. from Eur. 
7. B. commutatus Schrad. Resembling no. 6; sheaths retrorsely pubes¬ 
cent; blades commonly pubescent; lemmas with an obtuse angle on the 
margin just above the middle, the margin not as strongly inrolled in fruit 
as in no. 6, the awn straight and rather longer than in no. 6.—Weed in 
fields and waste places; nat. from Eur. 
8. B. arenarius Labill. Culms 1.5 to 4.5 dm. high; sheaths and blades 
pilose; panicle pyramidal, open, the spreading branches and slender pedi¬ 
cels sinuously curved; spikelets 1.5 to 1.8 cm. long, densely pilose; glumes 
acute, scarious-margined, the first narrower, 3-nerved, the second 7- 
nerved; lemmas 7-nerved, 2-toothed; awn 1 to 1.5 cm. long.—Sandy- 
roadsides, gravelly or sterile hills; cent, to S. Cal.; nat. from Austr. 
9. B. marginatus Nees. Short-lived perennial; culms rather stout, 
6 to 12 dm. high; sheaths pilose; blades broad, flat, more or less pilose; 
panicle erect, rather narrow, 10 to 20 cm. long, the lower branches some¬ 
what spreading; spikelets 7 or 8-flowered, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long; glumes 
broad, scabrous, or scabrous-pubescent, the first subacute, 3 to 5-nerved, 
the second obtuse, 5 to 7-nerved; lemmas subcoriaceous, coarsely pubes¬ 
cent, ovate-lanceolate, acute, 12 to 14 mm. long; awn 4 to 7 mm. long.— 
Open ground, open woods, roadsides and waste places. 
10. B. carinatus H. & A. California Brome Grass. Culms 6 to 9 
dm. high; sheaths pilose; blades narrow, flat, more or less pilose; panicle 
pyramidal, rather lax, the lower branches spreading or drooping; spikelets 
about 2.5 cm. long, 6 mm. wide, 5 to 9-flowered; glumes lanceolate, acute, 
glabrous or slightly scabrous-pubescent, the first 3-nerved, the second 5- 
nerved; lemmas lanceolate, puberulent or short-pubescent, 12 to 16 mm. 
long; awn 7 to 10 mm. long.—Open ground, open woods, roadsides and 
waste places, throughout the state. Var. californicus Shear. Sheaths 
smooth; spikelets narrower than in the species.—Common in the Coast 
Ranges; infrequent in the Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino Mts. Var. 
hookerianus Shear. Sheaths smooth; spikelets as broad as in the 
