Cheatgrass (Bromus Tectorum) With Flowers On A Drooping Panicle : (pix Sanjiv Shukla) Stock Photo

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), known as downy brome, drooping brome is a winter annual grass with slender and smooth stem. Leaves are hairy and have sheaths that are separate except at the node where the leaf attaches to the stem. Flowers are on a drooping panicle. It has self pollinating, non-opening flowers with no evident out-crossing. Root system is fibrous with few main roots that does not reach more than a foot into the soil, and has wide-spreading lateral roots that make it efficient at absorbing moisture. Native to Europe, southwestern Asia, and northern Africa it has become invasive in many other areas.