Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Bromus
Species: B. diandrus
Binomial name: Bromus diandrus
Synonyms: Anisantha diandra, Bromus gussonii
Common names: Ripgut brome, Great brome, Giant brome
Bromus diandrus is an annual grass native to the Mediterranean region. It tolerates a wide range of climates and grows on acidic or alkaline, sandy or loamy soils.
In New Zealand, it is an invasive weed of waste places and it is also prevalent in dry, hill and high country regions in the South and North Islands. On arable farms, Bromus diandrus can reduce wheat and barley yields. In hill and high country pastures, the seeds (1.5–2.5 cm) can contaminate wool, pelts and carcasses of sheep.
Bromus diandrus (30-90 cm high) has a large nodding flower head, consisting of few or many large spikelets. The seed heads are loose nodding panicles are approximately 15 – 20 cm in length. Many seeds are produced. They have a short lifespan of 1 – 2 years. The seeds are large, hard and sharp, with long, bristly awns up to 6 cm long. The seed heads can become reddish in colour when mature.
The seeds easily break out of the spikelet. They are very sharp and very rough due to tiny barb-like hairs that face backwards, allowing the seed to catch and lodge like a fish hook. This characteristic makes the seeds a danger to animals, which can easily get a seed lodged in a paw or eye. Motion can cause the seed to work itself deeply into flesh.
The leaves are rough and broad (about 10 mm across) and are on fairly short unbranched flower stalks (30 – 90 cm tall) that are often hairy towards the top. The ligules (a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk )are prominent and membranous. Plants often have a reddish brown tinge and are red at the base of the tillers.
Bromus diandrus has a fibrous rooting system.
The seed heads can become reddish in colour when mature.
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The ligules (a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk )are prominent and membranous
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Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
