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Bromus thominii

Common name:	Soft Brome	Family:	Gramineae
Author:	Hard.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:	Bromus hordaceus (L. sec Holmberg.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	W. Europe, from Britain and France to Scandanavia.
Habitat:	Meadows, waste places, and on dunes, shingle banks and cliffs, mainly in southern Britain[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	B. hordeaceus[B,CPHOTO,CAL,CAL,,G,L,P] B. hordeaceus ssp. thominei[B,P] B. mollis[G] B. thominei[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Soft Brome [B,P], Soft Chess [L,FEIS], Soft-brome [L],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Cyperales. Renamed to Poaceae -- Grass family

Physical Characteristics

Biennial growing to 0.8m. It is hardy to zone 3. It is in flower from May to July, and the seeds ripen from June to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind and Cleistogomy (self-pollinating without flowers ever opening). The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Edible Uses

Seed - cooked[257]. The seed can be dried, ground into a powder then mixed with water and eaten as a gruel[257]. The seed is small and fiddly to utilize[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in a sunny position in most well-drained soils[138, 200].
The plant produces open, wind pollinated flowers and also cleistogamous flowers - these do not open and are self-fertilized[17].
The report regarding edibility in [257] refers to B. hordaceus L. [17] gives this species as a synonym for B. thomasii, but only the section Holmberg.

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ and only just cover. Germination should take place within 2 weeks.
If seed is in short supply it can be surface sown in a cold frame in early spring. When large enough to handle, prick out the seedlings into individual pots and plant them out in early summer.
Division in spring. Large clumps can be planted out direct into their permanent positions whilst it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are ready to be planted out.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

References for Bromus hordeaceus (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[FAO] Data (Description, Habitat, Location and Use) from the FAO's Grassland Index.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.

References for Bromus hordeaceus ssp. thominei (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[138] Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan. 1989
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Bromus+thominii
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Bromus+thominii

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