Soft Brome (Bromus thominii) — Practical Plants

Taxonomy and growth

Family: Gramineae
Genus: Bromus
Life cycle: biennial
Height: 0.8 m
Fertility: self fertile
Flower type: hermaphrodite
Pollinators: Wind, Cleistogamous

Uses

Edible uses

Seed - cooked^[4]. The seed can be dried, ground into a powder then mixed with water and eaten as a gruel^[4]. The seed is small and fiddly to utilize[K].

Environment

Range: W. Europe, from Britain and France to Scandanavia.
Habitat: Meadows, waste places, and on dunes, shingle banks and cliffs, mainly in southern Britain^[2].
Light: full sun
Shade tolerance: light shade
Water: moderate
Hardiness: Zone 3+
Soil textures: sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH: acid, neutral, alkaline
Drainage: well drained
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil: No
Drought: intolerant

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

Succeeds in a sunny position in most well-drained soils^[1]^[3]. The plant produces open, wind pollinated flowers and also cleistogamous flowers - these do not open and are self-fertilized^[2]. The report regarding edibility in ^[4] refers to B. hordaceus L. ^[2] gives this species as a synonym for B. thomasii, but only the section Holmberg.

Bromus breviaristatusMountain Brome
Bromus carinatusCalifornian Brome
Bromus inermisSmooth Brome
Bromus japonicusJapanese Chess

References

Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan. 1989-00-00
↩
Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962-00-00
↩1 ↩2 ↩3
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
↩
Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998-00-00 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
↩1 ↩2 ↩3