Bromus catharticus
| Bromus catharticus | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Subfamily: | Pooideae |
| Genus: | Bromus |
| Species: | B. catharticus
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| Binomial name | |
| Bromus catharticus | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Bromus catharticus is a species of brome grass known by the common names rescue grass (America), prairie grass (New Zealand), and Schrader's bromegrass in English, and cebadilla criolla and cebadilla in Spanish.[2][3]
It is the most common and most well-known of several species in the Bromus catharticus complex within the Bromus section Ceratochloa, all of which are hexaploids with the chromosome count 2n=42.[4]
It is native to South America but it can be found in other places, including Europe, Australia and North America, as an introduced species.
Description
Bromus catharticus is a coarse winter annual or biennial grass, growing 0.2–1 m (7.9 in – 3 ft 3.4 in) in height. The culms of the grass are glabrous and 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) thick. The sheaths are densely hairy. The grass lacks auricles and the glabrous ligule is 1–4 mm (0.039–0.157 in) long. The leaf blades are 4–30 cm (1.6–11.8 in) long and 3–10 mm (0.12–0.39 in) wide and are glabrous or pubescent. The erect or nodding panicles are 9–28 cm (3.5–11.0 in) long. The upper spikelets are erect and the lower spikelets are nodding or drooping. Each flat and pointed spikelet is 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) long and has four to twelve florets. The glumes are smooth or occasionally slightly scabrous. The lower glume is fie to seven-veined and 7–12 mm (0.28–0.47 in) long, and the upper glume is seven to nine-veined and 9–17 mm (0.35–0.67 in) long. The lemmas are scabrous or nearly glabrous and lack awns or possess very short awns 2 mm (0.079 in) in length. The lemmas are 11–20 mm (0.43–0.79 in) long. The palea is over half the length of the lemma. The anthers are 0.5–5 mm (0.020–0.197 in) long.[5][6]
Bromus catharticus is part of Bromus section Ceratochloa, which are separated from other Bromus sections by their strongly keeled (folded, like the keel of a boat)[7] lemmas, which make the spikelets laterally-compressed.[8]
Similar species
B. catharticus is likely to be confused with B. cebadilla, B. brevis, and possibly the B. carinatus group.
B. cebadilla has often been reduced to a synonym of B. catharticus (Bromus catharticus var. elatus). However, it can be distinguished by its wide spikelets, scabrid or glabrous rather than lightly hairy glumes, and shorter awns (0-3.5mm rather than 3.5-9mm).[9][10]
Like B. cebadilla, B. brevis was once regarded a synonym of B. catharticus (Bromus catharticus var. rupestris). It can be distinguished by its longer awns (B. brevis awns are always shorter than 1mm, if present), longer pedicels, and less compact panicle.[11][12]
From the B. carinatus group, B. catharticus can be distinguished by its wider spikelets, and its having 9-11 veins on its lemmas rather than 7.[13]
Distribution
Bromus catharticus is native to most of South America (Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay).[14]
It is widely introduced and naturalised in:
- Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Morrocco, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe)[15]
- Australasian (Australia, New Caledonia, and New Zealand)[15]
- Asia (Azerbaijan, Bhutan, China, Cyprus, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, North and South Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Taiwan)[15]
- Caribbean (the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago)[15]
- Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Panama)[15]
- Europe (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Great Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, and Ukraine)[15][16]
- and North America (Canada, Mexico, and the United States (including Hawaii)[15]
Habitat
Bromus catharticus grows in open and disturbed areas, such as roadsides, parks, gardens, orchards, vineyards, ditches.[17][14] In Australia, it can additionally be found in some natural habitats, such as coastal vegetation, heathlands, grasslands, grassy woodlands, open woodlands, and riparian.[14]
Biology
Like most species in Bromus section Ceratochloa, B. catharticus flowers both through chasmogamy (outcrossing through open flowers) and cleistogamy (self-pollinating through closed flowers), with each kind of flower existing on the same spikelet. Chasmogamous flowering is induced by short photoperiod and high soil moisture. In Argentina, B. catharticus flowers cleistogamously before flowering chasmogamously.[18]
B. catharticus naturally spreads through attachment to animals. However, it is often spread through contaminated agricultural produce (such as fodder, wool, and seed), or through attachment to vehicles, clothing, or equipment.[14] It can produce an average of 1000 seeds/m2, which can remain viable in the soil for up to three years.[19]
In Australia, B. catharticus flowers in Spring and Summer, and seeds germinate from Autumn to Spring.[19]
Uses
Bromus catharticus is commonly used as a pasture grass in areas with warm and temperate climate.[20][14]
Etymology
Bromus - from the Greek bromos (oat), out of broma (food).[21]
catharticus - from the Latin catharticus, meaning to purge. This refers to the plant having emetic properties.[21]
References
- ^ The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species, retrieved 12 November 2015
- ^ "Bromus catharticus". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ Naranjo, Carlos Alberto (1985). Estudios citogenéticos, bioquímicos y sistemáticos en algunas especies americanas del género Bromus (gramineae) (Tesis Doctoral thesis). Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales.
- ^ STEBBINS Jr., G. Ledyard (1949). "The Evolutionary Significance of Natural and Artificial Polyploids in the Family Gramineae". Hereditas. 35 (S1): 461–485. doi:10.1111/j.1601-5223.1949.tb03355.x. ISSN 1601-5223.
- ^ Merrit Lyndon Fernald (1970). R. C. Rollins (ed.). Gray's Manual of Botany (Eighth (Centennial) - Illustrated ed.). D. Van Nostrand Company. p. 102. ISBN 0-442-22250-5.
- ^ Flora of North America Editorial Committee (1993). Flora of North America: North of Mexico. Vol. 24. Oxford University Press. p. 201. ISBN 9780195310719.
- ^ "A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin". www.mobot.org. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
- ^ "Bromus - FNA". floranorthamerica.org. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
- ^ Connor (2000). "Bromus valdivianus Phil".
- ^ Connor (2000). "Bromus willdenowii Kunth".
- ^ "Bromus". keys.lucidcentral.org. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ^ Connor (2000). "Bromus L."
- ^ Verloove, Filip (2014). "A revision of Bromus section Ceratochloa (Pooideae, Poaceae) in Belgium".
- ^ a b c d e "Bromus catharticus". keyserver.lucidcentral.org. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Bromus catharticus Vahl | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
- ^ Milović, Milenko; Mitić, Božena; Alegro, Antun (2010-12-31). "New neophytes in the flora of Croatia". Natura Croatica. 19 (2): 407–431. ISSN 1330-0520.
- ^ James P. Smith (2014). Field Guide to Grasses of California. California Natural History Guides (illustrated ed.). University of California Press. p. 206. ISBN 9780520275683.
- ^ Naranjo, Carlos A. (1992). "Estudios Biosistematicos En Especies De Bromus (seccion Ceratochloa, Poaceae). I. Sistemas Reproductivos Y Barreras De Aislamiento". Darwiniana. 31 (1/4): 173–183. ISSN 0011-6793.
- ^ a b "Prairie grass". The Australian Wine Research Institute. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
- ^ Stewart, A. V. (1996-12-01). "Potential value of some Bromus species of the section Ceratochloa". New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research. 39 (4): 611–618. doi:10.1080/00288233.1996.9513220. ISSN 0028-8233.
- ^ a b "Bromus catharticus". keys.lucidcentral.org. Retrieved 2025-11-24.