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Poaceae FAMILY

Bromus carinatus

Bromus carinatus

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

The long, sharp-awned fruits can be very dangerous if swallowed[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual/Perennial
Growth—

Bromus carinatus is a plant of the temperate zone, where it is found at elevations up to 1,500 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 10 - 18°c, but can tolerate 2 - 22°c[2]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -5°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at -1°c[2]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 500 - 900mm, but tolerates 350 - 1,100mm[2]. Succeeds in a sunny position in most well-drained soils[3, 4]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7, tolerating 5.5 - 7.5[2]. A potential perennial cereal crop, it is able to survive summer droughts without needing irrigation[5]. The plant has cleistogamous flowers - these do not open in the usual way but are self-pollinated by the plant.

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ and only just cover. Germination should take place within 2 weeks. If seed is in short supply it can be surface sown in a cold frame in early spring. When large enough to handle, prick out the seedlings into individual pots and plant them out in early summer. Division in spring. Large clumps can be planted out direct into their permanent positions whilst it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are ready to be planted out. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Bromus+carinatus>

Pollinators

Wind, Cleistogamous

References

  1. [1]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
  2. [2]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  3. [3]Growing from Seed. Volume 3. — Bird. R. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1989 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.
  4. [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  5. [5]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  6. [6]Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. — Hitchcock. C. L. · University of Washington Press · 1955 · ISBN - ↩︎A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.
  7. [7]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  8. [8]Food Plants of the N. American Indians. — Yanovsky. E. · U.S. Depf of Agriculture. · ISBN - ↩︎A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.
  9. [9]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  10. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎