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Bromus
Also called Brome, Bromegrass, Chess, Bromes
Bromus is a large genus of temperate grasses, with around 160 to 170 species, commonly called bromes or chess. Many are weedy, spreading readily, and are grown mainly as forage rather than as ornamentals.
Bromus is a large genus of grasses, classified in its own tribe Bromeae. They are commonly known as bromes, brome grasses, cheat grasses, or chess grasses. Estimates in the scientific literature of the number of species have ranged from 100 to 400, but plant taxonomists currently recognize around 160–170 species.
Bromus is part of the cool-season grass lineage (subfamily Pooideae), which includes about 3300 species. Within Pooideae, Bromus is classified in tribe Bromeae (it is the only genus in the tribe). Bromus is closely related to the wheat-grass lineage (tribe Triticeae) that includes such economically important genera as Triticum (wheat), Hordeum (barley) and Secale (rye).
The caterpillars of some Lepidoptera use Bromus as a foodplant, such as the chequered skipper (Carterocephalus palaemon).
Bromus species are generally considered to have little economic value to humans, at least in present times. Bromus mango was historically cultivated in Chile and Argentina by indigenous peoples, who used it both as fodder and food. The Tarahumara Indians in northern Mexico use the grains of some native Bromus species to aid fermentation in making one of their cultural beverages. As names like poverty brome (B. sterilis) and ripgut brome (B. diandrus) attest, some species are not very useful as fodder because their leaves sclerotize quickly and may even be harmful to livestock due to the high silica content. Others, such as meadow brome (Bromus riparius), native to parts of Russia, are planted as forage in the Great Plains of North America. Brome grasses are not usually grown as ornamental plants due to most species' nondescript appearance. Some are useful to prevent erosion but such use must be cautiously controlled as most Bromus have the ability to spread, becoming invasive weeds.
Meadow brome · Bromus bromoideus · California brome · Rescuegrass · Fringed brome · Oat brome · Soft brome · Smooth brome · Mediterranean brome · Compact brome · Bald brome · Broom brome
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Bromus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
