Bromus japonicus

Japanese chess, japanese brome, Japanese Brome

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Japanese chess is a naturalized annual grass found throughout California in open, disturbed areas at elevations below 2,470 meters. Flowering from May to July, this grass produces pale green to tan spikelets 20 to 40 millimeters long with delicate spreading branches. Growing 17 to 85 centimeters tall with upright to slightly wavy stems, it has distinctive branching that creates an open, loose appearance. Its leaves have hairy sheaths and blades 1.5 to 6 millimeters wide, with each leaf blade varying from glabrous to slightly hairy. The grass produces slender awns 5 to 11 millimeters long, extending slightly curved from each spikelet.

Habitat: Open, disturbed areas

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 2470 m

Bioregions: CA

California counties: Butte, Inyo, Lake, Modoc, Plumas, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Riverside, Sierra, Siskiyou, Lassen, Colusa, Kern, Tuolumne, Tulare, Alpine, San Diego, Shasta, Glenn, Napa, Mariposa, Yuba, Santa Barbara, Nevada, Sonoma, Fresno, Calaveras, Tehama, Mono, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Yolo, Humboldt, Monterey

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.