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Smooth
Brome
Common
Name(s):
Smooth Brome
Scientific
Name:
Bromus
inermis Leyss.
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
None known
Symbol:
BRIN2
Description:
Life
Span: Perennial
Origin:Introduced
(from Europe)
Season: Cool
Growth Characteristics:
An
erect, leafy, long-lived perennial, 1 ½ to 3 feet tall, rhizomatous
and commonly producing a dense sod. It starts growth in early spring;
flowers May to July; reproduces from seeds, tillers, and rhizomes.
It may regrow and reflower in the fall if moisture is sufficient.
Seedhead:Compact
to somewhat open panicle, 4 to 8 inches long; panicle branches in
whorls; spikelets ¾ to 1 inch long, slender, turn brownish
at maturity, contain 5 to 10 florets; lemmas awnless to awn-tipped,
glabrous and split near the tip, into a bifid apex.
Leaves: Glabrous or occasionally pubescent,
particularly on the sheaths; blades 8 to 15 inches long, ¼
to ½ inch wide, flat, with a raised and keeled midrib below;
sheaths closed, except near collar, and papery when dry; leaves
rolled in the bud; ligules up to 1/8 inch long, rounded, and membranous;
auricles absent.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Smooth
brome was introduced from Europe and has been used in range seedings
in many areas of the country. Smooth brome is a good forage producer
on the mountain loam sites, and it is also adapted to the upland
sites. In the lower rainfall areas, some irrigation is required
for optimum production. The elevation range for this grass varies
from 3,000 to 12,000 feet. Smooth brome comes on fairly early in
the spring, but is not as early as intermediate wheatgrass with
which it compares very closely in its adaptations.
Due to it's aggressiveness, the species can be considered weedy.
It is not tolerant of prolonged flooding.
Soils: It
is best adapted to fertile, loamy, deep soils including stony loams
where there is at least 16 inches of rainfall annually, or supplemental
irrigation equivalent to that. Smooth brome is mildly alkaline and
moderately salt tolerant.
Associated Species:
Slender
wheatgrass, intermediate wheatgrass,
aspen, yarrow,
big sagebrush.
Uses and
Management:
Smooth
brome is excellent forage for all classes of domestic livestock
and for wildlife. Its quality and palatability rapidly decline after
inflorescence development. Regrowth in the fall can furnish valuable
fall grazing. Smooth brome can withstand heavy use, but produces
best with 60% use. If it is grazed too closely for too long it becomes
"sodbound" and unproductive.
Smooth brome is excellent for the control of soil erosion and is
used widely for rehabilitation of rangeland for purposes including
forage production, wildlife habitat, landscape beautification, cover
for recreational areas and campgrounds, roadside seedings, and for
watershed stabilization.
Fertilization with nitrogen fertilizer or interseeding with nitrogen
fixing legumes is recommended, especially for older smooth brome
stands. Recently, it has been determined to be very competitive
with desirable native species, so it is often not recommended for
restoration seed when other seed is available.
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