Bromus hordeaceus Seeds | Soft Brome
LATIN NAME: Bromus hordeaceus
COMMON NAME: Soft Brome, Bull Grass
Plant Profile
Soft brome is an annual grass of the Mediterranean and western Asia, now spread across temperate grasslands worldwide as a weed of disturbed ground, pastures and roadsides. It grows twenty to sixty centimetres with soft, hairy leaves and dense, oval spikelets that are covered in fine hairs and tipped with short awns, giving the head a soft, brushed look. It flowers in late spring and sets seed within weeks, then dies, leaving straw-coloured stems that persist into summer. It is a common component of hay meadows and of waste ground, and it is one of the grasses that give a field its silvery sheen in June. Its seed is a contaminant of grain and wool, and it is also a useful forage in the brief window before it dries off.
Science & Biotechnology
Bromus hordeaceus is a tetraploid annual of the brome genus, a group notorious for its taxonomic difficulty and for the number of weedy species it contains. The species is self-pollinating to a high degree, which allows it to colonise new ground from a single seed and to maintain local populations with little gene flow. It is a common host of the ergot fungus and of several grass viruses, and it is one of the species surveyed in studies of arable weed communities, where its abundance tracks soil nitrogen. Its seed germinates in autumn and the plant overwinters as a rosette, which allows it to exploit the gap left by summer crops. In pastures it is palatable before flowering and becomes tough and unpalatable once the seed heads harden, so grazing timing matters.
Uses & Benefits
The grass is used as a forage species in short-term leys and in hay meadows, where it contributes bulk in spring, though its feed value falls sharply at flowering. It is also a common component of wildflower meadow seed mixes, where it acts as a nurse grass, though it can dominate in fertile soil. Its seed is sold for green manure and for erosion control on disturbed ground. In the garden it is usually a weed, but it can be allowed to naturalise in a meadow strip, where its soft heads catch the light. It has no medicinal use, and its seed is not edible for people. It should not be sown near cereal crops, where it becomes a contaminant. In North America the name bull grass belongs to a different plant, a muhly from the Southwest, so a seed packet labelled that way may hold either species.
Growing from Seed
Sow in autumn, broadcast at three grams per square metre, and rake in lightly. Germination takes seven to fourteen days at ten to fifteen degrees, and the plants overwinter as rosettes. It needs no particular soil and tolerates poor, dry ground, though it grows tallest in fertile soil. Do not sow it in a wildflower meadow that is meant to be species-rich, since it will dominate. Allow the plants to set seed and die back naturally, then cut the straw in late summer and remove it to reduce the seed bank. For a green manure, dig the plants in before the seed heads harden. It self-sows readily, so one sowing is enough.
Our Take
A soft-headed annual brome, useful as spring forage and a nuisance in grain. Sow it once and it will do the rest.
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