Plant Species of the Bright Angel Trail: downy brome, cheatgrass, Bromus tectorum
See Plant Guide to Bright Angel Trail for an introduction to this page.
This is a non-native species.
Characteristics
Identification status: 95% confidence. There are several other much-less-common non-native species that appear similar to Bromus tectorum, which are distinguished by the number of veins in their glumes. It is very difficult to determine this without microscopic examination.
However, none of the look-alike species are in the Grand Canyon flora, so B. tectorum is the overwhelmingly-likely determination. On my next trip, I'll examine the glumes to make 100% sure of the determination.
From a SEINet search, there are 27 vouchers of this species from the Coconino County portion of the Grand Canyon. The nearest are at: El Tovar Hotel and W of Grand Canyon Village. Note that there may be additional vouchers at other herbaria not available through SEINet.
First occurrence on Bright Angel Trail: mile 0.00, elevation 6845 feet (2086 m).
Number of plants along Trail: Unfortunately, this species is found in many places along the trail. At least 99 plants were found in at least 9 different locations in September 2007.
Pictures
The first picture below shows young plants that have germinated from the summer rains. Note the twist to the leaves, typical of many non-native annual grasses. Also note the glaucous appearance of a few plants at middle bottom, also typical for some specimens of many non-native annual grasses. The species could not have been identified from these young plants alone.
The second picture shows a dried-up old plant, probably from last spring, that accompanied these young plants. The nodding branches are typical of B. tectorum and its few uncommon look-alike species.
From 5 September 2007, mile 0.00:
The picture below, which unfortunately is out of focus for the two dead flower stalks in my hand, shows Bromus rubens on the left and B. tectorum on the right. From 6 September 2007, mile 2.00:
References
See Resources for Grand Canyon Flora for further information on most of these references. Entries in the second column are either the name used in that source or a page reference. The name is linked to online pages when available. If a given reference does not contain this taxon, the entry is either left blank or contains a hyphen.
| Family | Poaceae |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Bromus tectorum |
| 1987 Grand Canyon Flora Name | Bromus tectorum |
| 1987 Grand Canyon Flora page | 16 |
| SEINet Image Page | Bromus tectorum |
| USDA Plants | Bromus tectorum |
| Flora of North America | |
| Jepson Manual for California treatment | Bromus tectorum |
| Jepson Manual illustration page | 1245 |
| Kearney and Peebles Name | Bromus tectorum |
| Kearney and Peebles Page # | 78 |
| Vascular Plants of AZ name | |
| Vascular Plants of AZ volume: page | |
| Huisinga et al 2006 name | Bromus tectorum |
| Huisinga et al 2006 page numbers | 38-39 |
| Epple Name | - |
| Epple description page # | - |
| Epple pix # | - |
| McDougall 1964 name | Bromus tectorum |
| McDougall 1964 page # | 49 |
| Brian 2000 Name | |
| Phillips 1979 name | - |
| Phillips 1979 page # | - |
| Stockert 1967 name | - |
| Stockert 1967 page # | - |