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Descriptions

W.D. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, K.T. Harman & H. Williamson

© Copyright The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Bromus brachystachys

HABIT Annual; culms solitary, or caespitose; clumped loosely. Culms erect, or geniculately ascending; 30–50 cm long. Culm-internodes smooth; distally glabrous. Culm-nodes glabrous, or pubescent. Lateral branches ample. Leaf-sheaths hirsute; with reflexed hairs. Ligule an eciliate membrane. Leaf-blades 5–20 cm long; 2–4 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface pilose; sparsely hairy; hairy on both sides. Leaf-blade margins scabrous.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence a panicle.

Panicle open, or contracted; linear, or oblong; 6–15 cm long; 2–4 cm wide. Primary panicle branches whorled at lower nodes; indistinct the panicle almost racemose to moderately divided; 0–5 cm long; bearing 1–4 fertile spikelets on each lower branch.

Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 5–8 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets oblong; laterally compressed; 6–9 mm long; 4 mm wide; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.

GLUMES Glumes persistent; dissimilar; shorter than spikelet; parallel to lemmas. Lower glume oblong; 3.5–4 mm long; 0.9 length of upper glume; chartaceous; 1-keeled; 3 -veined. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume oblong; 4–4.5 mm long; 0.9–1 length of adjacent fertile lemma; chartaceous; 1-keeled; 5 -veined. Upper glume apex acute.

FLORETS Fertile lemma elliptic; 4–5 mm long; 3–4 mm wide; chartaceous; without keel; 7 -veined. Lemma surface smooth, or scaberulous. Lemma apex dentate; 2 -fid; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn subapical; 6–7 mm long overall. Palea 0.8–0.9 length of lemma. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.

FLOWER Lodicules 2; membranous. Anthers 3; 2 mm long. Ovary with a fleshy appendage above style insertion; pubescent on apex.

FRUIT Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; hairy at apex; apex fleshy. Hilum linear.

DISTRIBUTION Asia-temperate: western Asia and China.

NOTES Bromeae. Fl Iraq 1999.

Please cite this publication as detailed in How to Cite Version: 3rd February 2016.