Bromus inermis
Bromus inermis
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
Bromus inermis is a plant of the temperate zone, where it is found from cold continetal climates to subropical areas. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 12 - 25°c, but can tolerate 2 - 45°c[1]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -35°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at 5°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 600 - 1,000mm, but tolerates 20 - 1,700mm[1]. The plant is suited to silt or clay soils and deep loams, but also does well on light sandy soils and on well-drained soils[2]. It has a moderate tolerance of saline soils[2, 1]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 7, tolerating 4 - 8.2[1].. There are a number of named varieties, selected mainly as hay and pasture crops. These cultivars are divided into two groups, northern and southern. The southern group is less cold-hardy and does not survive average winter conditions further north than southern Minnesota in N. America, the northern group is much more cold tolerant[2]. This species photosynthesizes by a more efficient method than most plants. Called the 'C4 carbon-fixation pathway', this process is particularly efficient at high temperatures, in bright sunlight and under dry conditions[3].
Propagation
Seed - sow spring in situ. The seedbed should be firm and seed should not be covered to more than 6 - 13 mm depth. Seed rates of 3.3 kilos per hectare are used when the plant is sown in a pure stand, though it is more often sown in a mixture with various legumes such as alfalfa, sweet clover, red clover or Lotus corniculatus[2]. There are approximately 300,000 seeds per kilo[2]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Bromus+inermis>
Pollinators
Wind
References
- [1]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.
- [2]Handbook of Energy Crops — Duke. J. · - · 1983 · https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/dukeindex.html · ISBN - ↩︎Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of both temperate and tropical plants.
- [3]Global Invasive Species Database — http://www.issg.org/database/welcome/ ↩︎Very detailed information on almost 400 species (with more being added) of plants that have become weeds in areas outside their native range.
- [4]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.