Plants perennial; not rhizomatous. Culms 50-100 cm, erect to spreading; nodes 3-5, usually glabrous, rarely pubescent; internodes glabrous. Sheaths usually glabrous, sometimes pubescent or pilose, especially the lower sheaths, midrib of the culm leaves usually narrowed just below the collar; auricles absent; ligules 1-3 mm, glabrous, truncate to obtuse, laciniate; blades 10-20 cm long, 3-6 mm wide, flat, often glaucous, usually glabrous, sometimes scabrous, basal blades often pubescent. Panicles 10-20 cm, open; branches ascending and spreading or declining and drooping. Spikelets 15-30 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, with (4)5-10 florets. Glumes usually glabrous, rarely slightly pubescent, 3-veined; lower glumes 5.5-8 mm; upper glumes 6.5-9 mm, often mucronate; lemmas 8-12 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, backs pubescent or glabrous, margins usually with longer hairs, apices subulate to obtuse, entire; awns 1.5-4 mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices; anthers 1.5-3.5 mm. 2n = 14.

Bromus frondosus grows in open woods and on rocky slopes, at 1500-2500 m. Its range extends from Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico into Mexico.

Common Name: weeping brome

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Graminoid

General: Non-rhizomatous perennial with erect to spreading stems 50-100 cm, 3-5 nodes, usually glabrous, rarely pubescent, with glabrous sheaths, sometimes pubescent to pilose on lower sheaths, no auricles.

Vegetative: Blades 10-20 cm long, 3-6 mm wide, flat, often glabrous, basal blades often pubescent, midrib of stem leaves narrowed just above collar, ligules 1-3 mm, glabrous, truncate to obtuse, lacinate.

Inflorescence: Open panicles 10-20 cm, branches ascending and spreading or declining and drooping, with spikelets 15-30 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed with 5-10 florets, glumes subequal, glabrous to slightly pubescent, 3-veined, lower 5.5-8 mm, upper 6.5-9 mm, often mucronate; lemmas 8-12 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, backs pubescent or glabrous, margins usually with longer hairs, apices subulate to obtuse, entire with awns 1.5-4 mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices.

Ecology: Found on open slopes, often on rocky substrates from 5,000-8,000 ft (1524-2438 m); flowers July-October.

Notes: Glaucous leaf blades with glabrous glumes, awns 1-4 mm long, usually in small clumps. The glaucous leaf blades are a key distinguishing feature from B. anomalus.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Bromus is from Greek bromo, for stinking, while frondosus means leafy.

Synonyms: Bromopsis frondosa

Editor: SBuckley, 2010