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Soft Brome

Bromus hordeaceus

Found in fields, disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 35%

Height
4.4 to 26 inches tall

At a glance

Not yet recorded · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 12 Alabama counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

13CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL

Genus host records with ranges including AL · Bromus

  • Amblyscirtes vialisCommon Roadside-Skipper, Black Little Skipper
  • Anatrytone loganDelaware Skipper, Logan Skipper, Black-Vein Skipper
  • Ancyloxypha numitorLeast Skipper
  • Cercyonis pegalaCommon Wood Nymph
  • Cisseps fulvicollisYellow-Collared Scape Moth
  • Dargida diffusaWheat Head Armywotm Moth
  • Hesperia leonardusLeonard's Skipper, Blazing Star Skipper, Pawnee Prairie Skipper, Pawnee Montane Skipper
  • Leucania multilineaMany-Lined Wainscot
  • Leucania phragmitidicolaNeedle Wainscot, Phragmites Wainscot
  • Leucania pseudargyriaFalse Wainscot
Show all 13
  • Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
  • Gonioterma mistrella
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
11BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Bromus

  • Alectoris chukarChukar
  • Anser albifronsGreater White-fronted Goose
  • Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
  • Corvus brachyrhynchosAmerican Crow
  • Dendragapus obscurusDusky Grouse
  • Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
  • Oreortyx pictusMountain Quail
  • Perdix perdixGray Partridge
  • Spizella pusillaField Sparrow
  • Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling
Show all 11
  • Zonotrichia atricapillaGolden-crowned Sparrow
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Poaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Bromus hordeaceus ssp. hordeaceus; Bromus hordeaceus subsp. hordeaceus; Bromus mollis; Lop Grass; Soft Chess

Conservation status

Alabama rankNot available
Global rankGNR
AL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

Native alternatives

Find natives for your garden

Sources