Soft Brome
Bromus hordeaceus subsp. hordeaceus
Found in fields, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 35%
- Height
- 4.4 to 26 inches tall
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
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 35 Virginia counties.
Habitats
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Who uses this plant?
16CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Bromus
- Amblyscirtes vialisCommon Roadside-Skipper, Black Little Skipper
- Anatrytone loganDelaware Skipper, Logan Skipper, Black-Vein Skipper
- Ancyloxypha numitorLeast Skipper
- Apamea sordensBordered Apamea, Rustic Shoulder-Knot
- 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 insuetaDarted Wainscot, Heterodox Wainscot
- Leucania phragmitidicolaNeedle Wainscot, Phragmites Wainscot
Show all 16
- Leucania pseudargyriaFalse Wainscot
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Polites corasPeck's Skipper, Yellow-Patch Skipper
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Elachista illectella
- Gonioterma mistrella
—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
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
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Height · “4.4 to 26 inches (11-65 cm) tall” · Fire Effects Information System: Bromus hordeaceus · Source botanical description; original units and scope retained
Also known as
Bromus hordeaceus ssp. hordeaceus; Bromus hordeaceus subsp. hordeaceus; Bromus mollis; Lop Grass; Soft Chess
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- NatureServe Explorer
- 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