Selected Plants of Navajo Rangelands

Diné bikéyah Chi’l nooséłígíí Bąąhą́ą́nosin
Take care of our Navajo Rangelands

Brome, field
(a.k.a. Cenchrus incertus)

Seeds and awns drying along the spike
Bildoj [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons
Seeds

Field brome is a winter annual. It produces dense, low, leafy growth in the fall. Spring growth starts earlier than most other annual grasses used for cover crops. It does not have creeping stolons or rhizomes, but tillers profusely. It produces seedheads in late spring or early summer. Seed stalks are 2 to 3 feet tall. The principal characteristics that make it an outstanding cover crop are the extensive fibrous root system and the relatively short top growth. It is winter hardy in northeast and north central regions.

It grows vigorously under high fertility conditions and often smothers other grasses or weeds. It is an excellent seed producer and can maintain itself as a reseeding annual. There are 250,000 seeds per pound.

Growth habit in early stages before seedheads have formed
Daderot [CC0 or CC0], from Wikimedia Commons
Early growth habit
Wispy stems bent by weight of spikelets with seeds
Robert H. Mohlenbrock, Courtesy of USDA NRCS Wetland Science Institute. From Wikimedia Commons
Seedheads
Scientific Name
Bromus arvensis
Plant Type
Grass / Grasslike
Growing Season
Cool Season
Stem Placement
Basal
Habitats
  • Brushlands
  • Grasslands
  • River valleys
⚠
Noxious
For definitions, see the glossary.

Copyright 2018 New Mexico State University. Individual photographers retain all rights to their images. Partially funded by the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (westernsare.org; 435.797.2257), project EW15-023. Programs and projects supported by Western SARE are equally open to all people. NMSU is an equal opportunity/affirmative action educator and employer.

NMSU does not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, retaliation, serious medical condition, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, spousal affiliation or protected veteran status in its programs and activities as required by equal opportunity/affirmative action regulations and laws and university policy and rules. For more information please read the NMSU Notice of Non-discrimination.