Rescue Grass
Bromus catharticus
Found in cultivated fields, roadsides, disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Mississippi. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- About 3 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
Do not plant. Listed invasive in Mississippi.
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At a glance
- Bloom
- March to July
- Fruiting season
- Spring
Not yet recorded · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves
Recorded in 33 Mississippi 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.
Who uses this plant?
12CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS
Genus host records with ranges including MS · 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 phragmitidicolaNeedle Wainscot, Phragmites Wainscot
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
Show all 12
- Elachista illectella
- Gonioterma mistrella
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
4BirdsRecorded eating Bromus in Mississippi
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes Mississippi, most records first.
- Wild Turkey10 diet records
- Field SparrowSeeds. 2 diet records
- American Crow1 diet record
- European Starling1 diet record
Direct food only. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Birds that eat Bromus 4
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.
- Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth habit
- Grows in clumps
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Spring
- Fruit ends
- Spring
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “March to July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Grows in clumps” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Rapid” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “About 3 feet” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Mississippi rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| MS status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- Mississippi occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications