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• Brachypodium pinnatum

Brachypodium pinnatum — heath false brome

Facts

Heath false brome is a Eurasian native and a rare visitor to North America, having been collected only in California, Oregon and Massachusetts. In Europe it is am aggressive colonizer of chalk grasslands and can significantly reduce plant diversity in this habitat type, including loss of rare species. Population increases are associated with nitrogen deposition from pollution.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  3.5–5.5 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has no awn

  Bristles below spikelets

  no

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret number

  3–24

  Floret types within spikelet

  all the florets within a spikelet are similar

  Glume awn length

  0 mm

  Glume relative length

  neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets

  Glume veins

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7 or more

  Glumes per spikelet

  2

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  • the inflorescence axis is arched or curved outward
  • the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branch length

  0.1–0.2 cm

  Inflorescence branches

  • the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence
  • there are no branch points between the base of the inflorescence axis and the flowers, or they are not obvious

  Inflorescence branches coming off the lowest stem node

  1–3

  Inflorescence crowding

  NA

  Inflorescence length

  40–250 mm

  Inflorescence type (general)

  • the inflorescence is a spike, or is spike-like, lacking obvious branches
  • the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is a raceme (a long unbranched stem with stalked flowers growing along it)

  Inforescence position

  the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem

  Lemma awn base

  the awn is attached right at the tip of the lemma

  Lemma awn coiled

  the lemma awn is straight or twisted, but not coiled one half turn

  Lemma awn length

  1–7 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has one awn on it

  Lemma awn orientation

  the awn of the lemma is straight

  Lemma base hair length

  0 mm

  Lemma base hairs

  the lemma is hairless or feels just a tiny bit rough at the base

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is flat or rounded if you cut across the midpoint

  Lemma hairs

  the lemma has fine hairs between the veins

  Lemma marginal vein hairs

  the marginal vein of the lemma has fine hairs on it

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma tip

  the lemma tip is split into two or more points

  Lemma tip shape

  the lemma tip tapers to a narrow point (it may or may not also have an awn or teeth at the tip)

  Lemma vein number

  7 or more

  Lemma vein orientation

  the veins on the lemma stay roughly parallel throughout

  Lower glume length

  3–6 mm

  Lower glume relative length

  • the lower glume is nearly as long, or as long as, the upper glume
  • the lower glume is one third to three quarters as long as the upper glume

  One or more florets

  there is more than one floret per spikelet

  Palea length

  5–10 mm

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant have both carpels and stamens (synoecious)

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is an extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet disintegration

  the spikelet breaks off above the glumes, so that after the florets fall off, the glumes remain

  Spikelet length

  15–50 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  Up to 0

  Spikelet pedicel

  • the spikelets do not have pedicels
  • the spikelets have pedicels

  Spikelet pedicel length

  0–2 mm

  Spikelet position

  NA

  Spikelets per panicle branch

  0

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Tip of glume

  the tip of the glume is not divided (though it may have an awn on it)

  Upper glume length

  3–8 mm

  Upper glume relative length

  the upper glume is more than one half as long as the lowest lemma

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Fruits or seeds

  Groove on seed

  the caryopsis has a groove running most of its length

  Seed length

  6–7.2 mm

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Rhizomes

  yes

  Roots

  the plant has rhizomes (horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Basal leaves

  the plant has few or no leaves coming from the base of the flowering stem

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf basal lobe hairy

  NA

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section, or slightly folded or rolled inwards

  Leaf blade hairs

  • the leaf blade is hairless, but it may have tiny prickles that give it a sand-papery feel
  • the leaf blade is hairy

  Leaf blade length

  6–45 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery

  Leaf blade width

  2–10 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane with fine hairs

  Leaf margin glands

  there are no glands along the edges of the leaf blade

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

  Leaf sheath hair type

  • there are hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath, but the hairs do not have blisters at their bases
  • there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

  Orientation of topmost leaf

  the flag leaf is held upright, or at less than a 45 degree angle out from the stem

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  man-made or disturbed habitats

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Hairs at nodes

  the stem nodes have hairs that stand out at a shallow angle, or they curve downwards

  Plant height

  30–120 cm

  Stem hairs

  the stem has hairs on it

  Stem node number

  2–8

  Stem orientation

  the stems are upright

  Stem spacing

  • the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts
  • the stems grow singly or a few together (they may form diffuse colonies)

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae