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Species
Bromus madritensis L.
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
More info for the term: cool-season
Foxtail chess and reed brome are a cool-season [64] exotic annual grasses with culms from 4 to 28 inches (10-70 cm) tall. Their inflorescence is a panicle, 1 to 4 inches (3-11 cm) tall, with long awns [66]. Foxtail chess is distinguished from red brome by having relatively hairier stems and leaf sheaths, more lax panicles, and wider lemmas [1,41].
Foxtail chess is drought resistant, with high water-use efficiency [10,21].
More info for the term: graminoid
Graminoid
foxtail chess
compact brome
Spanish brome
red brome
Annuals, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems geniculate, decumbent, or lax, sometimes rooting at nodes, Stems solitary, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem nodes bearded or hairy, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly closed, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf bl ades mostly flat, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branches appressed or ascending, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence with 2-10 branches, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet 3-10 mm wide, Spikelets with 3-7 florets, Spikelets with 8-40 florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Spikelets disarticulating beneath or between the florets, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes shorter than adjacent lemma, Glumes 1 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline , cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma body or surface hairy, Lemma apex dentate, 2-fid, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn 1-2 cm long, Lemma awn subapical or dorsal, Lemma awns straight or curved to base, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea shorter than lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear, Caryopsis hairy at apex.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Compiled from several sources by Dr. David Bogler, Missouri Botanical Garden in collaboration with the USDA NRCS NPDC |
Source | http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=BRMA3 |
Red brome establishes from on- or off-site seed sources following fire [63].
Annual. Culms loosely tufted, simple, erect or geniculately ascending, 40–60 cm tall, glabrous. Leaf sheaths hairy, at least the lower; leaf blades linear-lanceolate, flat, ca. 20 cm × 2–4 mm, glabrous or pubescent, margins scabrid, apex acuminate; ligule 1.5–4 mm. Panicle dense or slightly lax, erect, 4–15 × 2–6 cm; branches 2–3 per node, 1–3 cm, hairy, sometimes branched. Spikelets oblong, flabellate at maturity, 35–60 mm, florets 6–13, lax; lower glume subulate, 6–11 mm, 1-veined, upper glume linear-lanceolate, 10–16 mm, 3-veined; lemmas oblong, 12–19 × 3–3.5 mm in side view, 7-veined, glabrous or pubescent, margins inrolled, apex acuminate, 2-toothed; awn 12–18 mm, straight or weakly recurved; palea shorter than lemma. Stamens 2, anthers ca. 1 mm. Fl. May–Aug. 2n = 14, 28.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=250033630 |
Fire kills foxtail chess and red brome [34].
Anisantha madritensis (Linnaeus) Nevski; Festuca madri-tensis (Linnaeus) Desfontaines; Genea madritensis (Linnaeus) Dumortier; Zerna madritensis (Linnaeus) Panzer ex B. D. Jackson.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=250033630 |
Annual.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Bibliotheca Alexandrina, BA Cultnat, Bibliotheca Alexandrina - EOL Ar |
Source | http://lifedesk.bibalex.org/ba/pages/2193 |
More info for the terms: competition, density, shrub, shrubs
Foxtail chess and red brome prefer disturbed sites in Mediterranean climates [41,66]. Elevational ranges are described below by state:
Species | State | Range |
foxtail chess, red brome | California | 7,200 feet (2,200 m) [41] |
red brome | Nevada | 1,200 to 6,000 feet ( 370-1,800m) [44,48] |
red brome | southern Nevada | 4,000 to 5,000 feet (1,200-1,500 m) [10] |
red brome | Utah | 3,000 to 5,000 feet (910-1,520 m) [64] |
Regional: In California, foxtail chess prefers areas receiving less than 9.8 inches (250 mm) annual rainfall [8]. Foxtail chess is a dominant species in California valley grasslands receiving less than 7.5 inches (190 mm) rainfall [40], and is abundant in California valley grasslands receiving less than 12 inches (305 mm) annual precipitation. In areas with annual precipitation greater than 12 inches (305 m), foxtail chess is replaced by soft chess (Bromus mollis) [7,8].
Bowers [19] monitored the relative abundance of northern Mojave Desert annuals over 6 years in relation to precipitation. Red brome density was highest during years receiving 2.4 to 4.2 inches (63-109 mm) precipitation; results are summarized below:
Pre-census precipitation (mm) between 1970-1976:
Year | Sept.-Oct. | Nov.-Dec. | Jan.-Feb. | Total | Mean red brome/0.25m2 |
1971 | 0 | 37.4 | 8.1 | 45.5 | 0.113 |
1972 | 0 | 41.4 | 0 | 41.4 | 0.132 |
1973 | 40.4 | 29.7 | 70.9 | 141.0 | 0.073 |
1974 | 3.8 | 24.9 | 35.0 | 63.7 | 0.959 |
1975 | 25.9 | 35.3 | 5.1 | 66.3 | 1.012 |
1976 | 5.8 | 4.8 | 98.0 | 108.6 | 6.780 |
Soils: Red brome commonly occurs in small patches on shallow soils, growing best where there is little competition from other annuals [86]. In southern Nevada, red brome occupies blackbrush communities with coarse-textured soils, showing best growth under shrubs and peripheries of shrub canopies [10]. Upland clay and sandy loam ranges and rolling sandy hills receiving 8 to 12 inches (203-305 mm) precipitation promote good growth in southern Utah 60.
Red brome is often found in areas with relatively high levels of sulfur dioxide pollution [69].