Common Name: Cheat Grass

General Information

Bromus tectorum is an erect, clump-forming annual grass; it can grow up to 50cm tall., though can also flower when only 3cm tall in very poor growing conditions[].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials.
This species is a widespread weed, adventive in most temperate regions of the world[]. It is a highly invasive exotic weed that can remain a dominant species for prolonged periods of time. It is one of the few invasive annual exotic species that is a major weed of rangelands and agronomic fields in North America[]. The plant has tremendous phenotypic plasticity, with self fertilization permitting continuous replication of successful genotypes, and occasional out-crossing inducing genotypic variability and adaptation to new environments. Seeds have the advantage of simultaneous germination and, through dormancy acquired in the seedbed, continuous germination and the development of large, persistent seedbanks. It also has an excellent long-distance seed dispersal mechanism through contamination of seed lots of crop species and through wool, hair, clothing, and vehicle contamination[]. The plant has been shown to significantly reduce cereal yields where it is a weed and also, where it invades native range, to greatly increase the risk and severity of wild fires[].

Known Hazards

The awns of the plant can cause mechanical injury to grazing animals[]. The caryopsis is covered with silicon barbs that aid in attachment to wool, hair and clothing and has a recurved, sharp-tipped awn. The awn moves with wetting and drying, forcing the sharp point of the caryopses deeper into wool or hair and even into the flesh, eyes, ears or toes of animals[].

Botanical References

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Range

Eurasia - Norway to Spain, east through the Caucasus and Turkey to Mongolia, China and N. India; N. Africa - Morocco to Tunisia; Arabian Peninsula

Habitat

Grassy places, dry slopes, river beaches, dry sandy places, wastelands, roadsides; at elevations from 100 - 3,400( metres, occasionally to 4,200 metres[]. Roadsides and waste places, also growing in thatched roofs in Eastern N. America[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	0.30 m
Pollinators	Wind, Cleistogamous
Self-fertile	Yes
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Bromus tectorum has a wide range of climatic tolerances. It grows best in regions where the mean annual temperate can range from 5 - 15°c, with a mean temperature in the hottest month ranging from 30 - 40°c and in the coldest month from -5 to 0°c. It can tolerate an absolute minimum of -40°c[].
Succeeds in ordinary well-drained garden soil in a sunny position[, ]. Tolerant of poor soils and saline soils[].
In addition to open-pollinated flowers, the plant also has cleistogamous flowers - these do not open but produce seed by means of self-fertilization.

Edible Uses

Seed - cooked[]. A famine food, the small seed can be cooked into a gruel in times of food shortage[].
A coffee is made from the roasted seed[].

Medicinal

A paste made from the seeds is applied as a poultice to the chest to relieve chest pains[].

Other Uses

The leaves have been used as a bedding[].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ and only just cover. Germination should take place within 2 weeks.