Californian Brome (Bromus carinatus)

Taxonomy and growth

Family: Gramineae
Genus: Bromus
Life cycle: annual, biennial
Height: 0.75 m
Fertility: self fertile
Flower type: hermaphrodite
Pollinators: Wind, Cleistogamous

Uses

Edible uses

Seed - cooked^[2]^[4]. Used as a piñole^[5].The dried seed can be ground into a powder and mixed with water to make a mush or made into bread^[8]. The seed is rather small and fiddly to utilize[K].

Plant part: Seed

Environment

Range: Western N. America - British Columbia to California and New Mexico. Naturalized in Britain^[3].
Habitat: Various habitats from moist woods to dry open meadows or sagebrush covered hills, sometimes to the timber line^[9]. Found naturalized along the Thames at Kew and Oxford^[3].
Light: full sun
Shade tolerance: light shade
Water: moderate
Hardiness: Zone 5+
Soil textures: sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH: acid, neutral, alkaline
Drainage: well drained
Tolerances: drought
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil: No
Drought: tolerant

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.

Cultivation

We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though judging by its native range it should succeed outdoors in many parts of this country. A potential perennial cereal crop, it is able to survive summer droughts without needing irrigation^[5]. Tolerates a pH in the range 5.3 to 7.8. The plant has cleistogamous flowers - these do not open in the usual way but are self-pollinated by the plant. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. Succeeds in a sunny position in most well-drained soils^[1]^[6].

Bromus breviaristatusMountain Brome
Bromus inermisSmooth Brome
Bromus japonicusJapanese Chess
Bromus mangoMango

References

Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan. 1989-00-00
↩
Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
↩
Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962-00-00
↩1 ↩2
Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984-00-00 ISBN 3874292169
↩
Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
↩1 ↩2
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
↩
Hitchcock. A. S. Manual of the Grasses of the United States Dover Publications. New York. 1971-00-00 ISBN 0-486-22717-0
Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998-00-00 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
↩
Hitchcock. C. L. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press 1955-00-00
↩