Rhizomatous perennial; culms solitary or loosely tufted, up to 120 cm high. Leaf-blades up to 35 cm long, 4-8 mm wide, glabrous or sparsely ciliate on the margins; sheaths glabrous or very shortly pubescent. Panicle 10-20 cm long, usually rather dense, occasionally loose and open. Spikelets narrowly oblong, 8-13-flowered, 15-30(-35) mm long, pallid or slightly purple-tinged; glumes narrowly lanceolate, glabrous, the lower 3.5-8 mm long, 1-nerved, the upper 6-11 mm long, 3-nerved; lemmas oblong-lanceolate, the lower 9.5-13 mm long, 5-7-nerved, usually glabrous or often sparsely hairy at the base, rarely sparsely appressed hirsute all over, truncate at the tip, shortly and bluntly 2-toothed, awnless or with an awn up to 1.5 mm long, rarely the awn as much as 4-6 mm; palea almost as long as the lemma, ciliate on the back and keels or glabrous on the back; rhachilla pubescent; anthers (3-)3.5-5.5(-7) mm long.

Fl. & Fr.Per.: June-August.

Type: Germany, Leysser (LINN).

Distribution: Kashmir; Europe and temperate Asia.

Awnless Brome, as interpreted here, is part of a species complex grading into awned and/or hairy forms especially in Asia. It shows quite clear connections with Bromus stenostachyus Boiss. and the Caucasian Bromus biebersteinii Roem. & Schult. Its distinction from Bromus confines is also rather ill-defined.

A very useful fodder grass introduced into the British Ises and North America for this reason.