Bromus inermis Leysser (1761: 16)

Saarela, Jeffery M., Peterson, Paul M. & Valdés-Reyna, Jesus, 2014, A taxonomic revision of Bromus (Poaceae: Pooideae: Bromeae) in México and Central America, Phytotaxa 185 (1), pp. 1-147 : 96-98

13. Bromus inermis Leysser (1761: 16) . Figs. 44 , 45 .

Festuca inermis (Leyss.) Candolle & Lamarck (1805: 49) . Schedonorus inermis Palisot de Beauvois (1812: 177) . Forasaccus inermis (Leyss.) Lunell (1915: 225) . Zerna inermis (Leyss.) Lindman (1918: 101) . Bromopsis inermis (Leyss.) Holub (1973: 167) . Type:— GERMANY. in pratis fertilibus succulentis Pomariis in den Pulverweiden im Amstgarten ad Belberg Crollwitz et alibi frequens, Leysser s.n. (holotype S-LINN!).

Bromus pumpellianus var. melicoides Shear (1900: 50) . Type:— UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Colorado: Beaver Creek Camp, alt. ca. 3400 m, 8 July 1896, L.H. Pammel s.n. (holotype US-81589 !) .

Bromus inopinatus Brues & Brues (1911: 73) . Type:— UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Wisconsin: Milwaukee, McKinley Park , along shores of Lake Michigan, 21 June 1908, B.B. Brues 78 (holotype GH-00023241!, isotypes GH-00023242!, US-3168443 ! fragm.).

Bromus inermis f. bulbiferus Moore (1941: 76) . Type:— UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Minnesota: Ramsey County, on Cleveland Avenue 4 mi Nof the campus of Minnesota College of Agriculture , 11 October 1938, C. Kaufman s.n. (holotype MIN-347786!).

Plants perennial, strongly rhizomatous. Culms 21–150 cm tall, 2.9–6 mm wide at base, erect, glabrous below the inflorescences; nodes 3–4, brown, glabrous or minutely pubescent, hairs up to 0.2 mm long. Leaf sheaths glabrous or pubescent, hairs soft and up to 1.2 mm long, or stiff and up to 0.6 mm long; auricles absent or rudimentary; ligules 1.5–3.5 mm long, glabrous, erose; blades 10–21.5 cm × 3.8–11.5 mm, flat, adaxial surfaces glabrous with occasional long, soft hairs up to 1.2 mm long or with dense soft hairs up to 0.8 mm long, abaxial surfaces glabrous or pubescent with short hairs up to 0.3 mm long distributed along blade center, margins serrulate. Panicles 6.5–22 cm × 3.5–14 cm, open, often nodding at maturity, branches erect to ascending, usually longer than spikelets, scabrous, 1–5 spikelets per branch. Spikelets 1.7–3.3 cm long, 7–10-flowered, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed; glumes glabrous, margins hyaline, midnerves scabrous or pubescent with hairs up to 0.2 mm long, apices obtuse; lower glumes 4.1–7 mm long, oblong-lanceolate, 1(–3)-nerved, green to purplishgreen along and between the nerves; upper glumes 6–9.5 mm long, oblong-ovate, 3-nerved, green to purplish-green 96 Phytotaxa 185 (1) © 2014 Magnolia Press

SAARELA ET AL.

ATAXONOMIC REVISION OF BROMUS (POACEAE)

Phytotaxa 185 (1) © 2014 Magnolia Press 97 along and between the nerves; lemmas 10–13.5 mm × 1.5–2.5 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, rounded over the backs, apices obtuse, 7-nerved, green to purplish-green along and between the nerves, glabrous or scabrous to puberulent on lower sixth to quarter, nerves scabrous; awns absent or up to 3 mm long, arising 0–0.5 mm below lemma apex, straight; paleas shorter than lemmas, 8–10.5 mm long, backs glabrous or pubescent, keels ciliate, cilia up to 0.2 mm long; anthers 4–5.5 mm long; caryopses 6−10 mm long. 2 n = 28 ( Armstrong 1982, 1984, 1987, Kong 1991), 56 ( Wagnon 1952, Armstrong 1987, Lövkvist & Hultgård 1999), 56+B's ( Armstrong 1987).

Distribution: —Introduced. Known in México from two collections in Coahuila, and in Guatemala from one collection in Quezaltenango ( Fig. 46 ). Bromus inermis was previously reported from Coahuila ( Beetle 1987, Espejo-Serna et al. 2000). Espejo-Serna et al. (2000) also reported this species from Chihuahua, but we have not seen specimens to confirm this report. The current status of the species in México and Guatemala is unknown.

Ecology:— This species is usually found along roadsides and areas that are heavily grazed by livestock. Elevation: 1642−1742 min México.

Common Names: —Austrian brome, awnless brome, Hungarian brome, Hungarian fodder grass, Russian brome, smooth brome (English); brome inerme, brome de Hongrie, brome sans arêtes (French); bromo inerme, bromo suave (Spanish).

Comments: — Bromus inermis was introduced for forage into North America in 1884 by the California Agricultural Experimental Station. It is native across central Eurasia and introduced in Africa, Australia, North America and South America. It is distributed widely across North America, where it is extremely common ( Pavlick and Anderton 2007). Bromus inermis was not reported from Guatemala by Swallen & McClure (1955) or Soderstrom and Beaman (1968). The species has been reported as being used as fodder in México ( Saulés & Dávila Aranda 1992), indicating it may be more widespread than existing collections suggest.

Specimens Examined:― GUATEMALA. Quezaltenango: introducido de Portugal, September 1954, M . de Koninck 46 ( US-2153560 ) . MÉXICO. Coahuila: Buenavista, a 6 km al Sde Saltillo por la carreterra Saltillo- Zacatecas, carretera 54, 25.3667°N, 100.5667°W, 1742 m, 15 May 1977, J . Valdés-Reyna 920 ( ANSM); Buenavista, Saltillo , Bajío-UAAAN, [25.4333°N, 101.0167°W], 1650 m, 20 August 1981, M. G . Villaseñor s.n. ( ANSM) .

Figures

FIGURE 44. Bromus inermis. A. Rhizome B. Ligule and auricles. C. Spikelet. D. Inflorescence. E. Lemmas. Illustration by C.T. Roché, reproduced from Barkworth et al. (2007) with permission.

FIGURE 45. Bromus inermis. M. de Koninck 46 (US-2153560).

FIGURE 46. Geographical distribution of Bromus inermis in México and Central America.