54. Bromus catharticus Vahl, Symb. Bot. 2: 22. 1791.
扁穗雀麦 bian sui que mai
Bromus unioloides Kunth; Schedonorus unioloides (Kunth) Roemer & Schultes; Serrafalcus unioloides (Kunth) Sampaio; Zerna unioloides (Kunth) Lindman.
Annual. Culms erect or geniculately ascending, 60–100 cm tall, ca. 5 mm in diam. Leaf sheaths pubescent; leaf blades 30–40 cm × 4–6 mm, scattered pubescent; ligule ca. 2 mm. Panicle lax, oblong in outline, 10–40 cm; branches ca. 10 cm, scabrid, each bearing 1–3 spikelets. Spikelets ovate-oblong, laterally compressed, 15–30 × 8–10 mm, florets 6–11, overlapping; rachilla internodes not visible, ca. 2 mm, scabrid; glumes narrowly lanceolate, lower glume 10–12 mm, upper glume slightly longer than lower glume; lemmas 15–20 mm, keeled, 11-veined, veins scabrid, apex mucronate; palea narrow, ca. 1/2 as long as lemma, keels ciliate. Anthers 0.3–0.6 mm. Fl. May, fr. Sep. 2n = 28, 42, 58.
Shady ditch sides, introduced. Guizhou, Hebei, Jiangsu, Nei Mongol, Taiwan, Yunnan [native to South America].
This species is widely introduced as a winter forage (Rescue Grass) and is now adventive in most temperate countries.