Grass Description
Grows in damp meadows, thickets, woods, stream banks and forested areas.
General Description
An erect, slender perennial bunchgrass with a well-developed root system. Stems are usually 1-1/2 to 3 feet tall. Seedheads nodding, spikelets compressed and multiple flowered.
Tufted perennial with slender stems. Sheath hairy at collar. Leaves wide and flat, hairy on top. Ligule membranous. Seedhead open and nodding, spikelets laterally compressed; 4 to 9 florets. Glumes unequal. Lemmas hairy on margins. Awns 3 to 5 mm long.
Flower Characteristics
Seedhead is narrowly elongate, 3 to 7 inches long with branches spreading, ascending or nodding. Spikelets are strongly laterally compressed with 4 to 9 florets. Glumes are smooth and unequal. Lemmas hairy on the lower 1/2 to 2/3. Awns 1/8 to 1/4 inch.
Vegetative Characteristics
Leaves are flat, <1/2 inch wide and 6 to 10 inches long. Leaves are bright green with smooth under surfaces and hairy upper surfaces.
Fringed brome is a good source of forage and is highly palatable for livestock and wildlife.