perennial false-brome
(Brachypodium sylvaticum)
This species is Introduced in the United States
Origin
Native to Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Appearance
Brachypodium sylvaticum is a caespitose (tufted) perennial grass that typically grows 20-27.5″ (50-70 cm) tall. It tends to form large clumps or bunches but is apparently not rhizomatous.
Foliage
The hollow culms (stems) are pilose (have soft, spreading hairs) at the nodes and sometimes over the lower internodes. Its broad flat leaves are 0.16-0.4″ (4-10 mm) wide, pilose, open-sheathed at the base, and do not have auricles. The ligules 0.04-0.10″ (1-2.5 mm long) are membranous and are more or less erose-ciliolate (jagged – fringed with tiny hairs) (Hitchcock et al. 1969).
Flowers
Flowers of B. sylvaticum are located on pale green spikelets that are semi-spicate (i.e. the pedicels very short or lacking). Spikelets tend to be few (5 to 10), are 0.8-1.6″ (2-4 cm) long, and are 7 to 17-flowered.
Fruit
B. sylvaticum reproduces rapidly from seed, and although reportedly not rhizomatous, can resprout from the small stem or root fragments when cut.
Ecological Threat
B. sylvaticum has recently been reported as rapidly invading coniferous forest understories in western Oregon. Occasionally cultivated for ornamental purposes, B. sylvaticum was first collected as an escaped invader in North America near Eugene, Oregon in 1939 (Chambers 1966). By 1966, it was well-established in two large colonies near Corvallis, Oregon and since then has been quickly increasing in cover and range. It is now spreading into closed-canopy coniferous forests, riparian forests, forest edges, and upland prairies in full sun in Oregon's Willamette Valley and into the Cascade foothills (Kaye 2001). B. sylvaticum has the potential to spread throughout low elevation forests in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia), and could spread into northern California too.
Kaye, T. 2001. Brachypodium sylvaticum (Poaceae) in the Pacific Northwest. Botanical Electronic News No. 277, 29 Nov 2001. (www.ou.edu)
Kaye, T. 2001. Institute for Applied Ecology, Personal Communication.
Winston, R.L., Andreas, J.E., Milan, J., DesCamp, W., Randell, C.B., and M. Schwarzländer. 2014. New Invaders of the Northwest. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team. FHTET-2014-12. Retrieved from https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/FHTET-2014-12_NW_New_Invaders.pdf
Native to Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Appearance
Brachypodium sylvaticum is a caespitose (tufted) perennial grass that typically grows 20-27.5″ (50-70 cm) tall. It tends to form large clumps or bunches but is apparently not rhizomatous.
Foliage
The hollow culms (stems) are pilose (have soft, spreading hairs) at the nodes and sometimes over the lower internodes. Its broad flat leaves are 0.16-0.4″ (4-10 mm) wide, pilose, open-sheathed at the base, and do not have auricles. The ligules 0.04-0.10″ (1-2.5 mm long) are membranous and are more or less erose-ciliolate (jagged – fringed with tiny hairs) (Hitchcock et al. 1969).
Flowers
Flowers of B. sylvaticum are located on pale green spikelets that are semi-spicate (i.e. the pedicels very short or lacking). Spikelets tend to be few (5 to 10), are 0.8-1.6″ (2-4 cm) long, and are 7 to 17-flowered.
Fruit
B. sylvaticum reproduces rapidly from seed, and although reportedly not rhizomatous, can resprout from the small stem or root fragments when cut.
Ecological Threat
B. sylvaticum has recently been reported as rapidly invading coniferous forest understories in western Oregon. Occasionally cultivated for ornamental purposes, B. sylvaticum was first collected as an escaped invader in North America near Eugene, Oregon in 1939 (Chambers 1966). By 1966, it was well-established in two large colonies near Corvallis, Oregon and since then has been quickly increasing in cover and range. It is now spreading into closed-canopy coniferous forests, riparian forests, forest edges, and upland prairies in full sun in Oregon's Willamette Valley and into the Cascade foothills (Kaye 2001). B. sylvaticum has the potential to spread throughout low elevation forests in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia), and could spread into northern California too.
Kaye, T. 2001. Brachypodium sylvaticum (Poaceae) in the Pacific Northwest. Botanical Electronic News No. 277, 29 Nov 2001. (www.ou.edu)
Kaye, T. 2001. Institute for Applied Ecology, Personal Communication.
Winston, R.L., Andreas, J.E., Milan, J., DesCamp, W., Randell, C.B., and M. Schwarzländer. 2014. New Invaders of the Northwest. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team. FHTET-2014-12. Retrieved from https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/FHTET-2014-12_NW_New_Invaders.pdf
Selected Images
Maps
EDDMapS Distribution - This map is incomplete and is based only on current site and county level reports made by experts, herbaria, and literature. For more information, visit www.eddmaps.org
State Lists - This map identifies those states that have this species on their invasive species list or law.
Invasive Listing Sources
- California Invasive Plant Council
- John Randall, The Nature Conservancy, Survey of TNC Preserves, 1995.
- National Park Service, Mid-Atlantic Exotic Plant Management Team Invasive Plant List
- Native Plant Society of Oregon, 2008
- New Invaders of the Northwest
- New York Regulated and Prohibited Invasive Species - Prohibited
- Oregon Noxious Weeds
- Pacific Northwest Exotic Pest Plant Council, 1998
- Washington Noxious Weeds
- WeedUS - Database of Plants Invading Natural Areas in the United States
Taxonomic Rank
| Domain: Eukarya |
| Kingdom: Plantae |
| Phylum: Magnoliophyta |
| Class: Magnoliopsida |
| Superorder: Lilianae |
| Order: Poales |
| Family: Poaceae |
| Subfamily: Pooideae |
| Tribe: Brachypodieae |
| Genus: Brachypodium |
| Brachypodium sylvaticum |
References
Common Name Reference: Weed Science Society of America Common Names List
Scientific Name Reference: USDA, NRCS. 2010. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.