Source: California Invasive Plant Council


URL of this page: http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/management/alerts/brachypodium.php
Cal-IPC > Invasive Plants > Invasive Plant Management > Invasive Plant Alerts > Brachypodium sylvaticum Alert

Brachypodium sylvaticum Alert

Brachypodium sylvaticum (false-brome), a grass which is very invasive in Oregon, has been found at the Thornewood Open Space Preserve near Woodside in the Santa Cruz Mountains, along the San Francisquito creek at the Alma Caltrain Station, and at Skyline Boulevard and Highway 84. This grass is capable of completely dominating the forest understory, including redwood forest understory, to the exclusion of all other plants. The dense layer of thatch that false-brome creates may increase the risk of wildfire.

Samples of the grass have been confirmed as Brachypodium sylvaticum by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

If anyone has found this species elsewhere in the Santa Cruz Mountains or anywhere else in California, please contact Cal-IPC.

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Photographs

B. sylvaticum plant close-up
Closeup view of the inflorescences of B. sylvaticum
taken at San Francisquito creek.
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B. sylvaticum plant
B. sylvaticum
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Young B. sylvaticum plant
Young B. sylvaticum plant
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B. sylvaticum plant on Highway 84
B. sylvaticum on Highway 84

All photographs courtesy John Beall.

Related Links

The Nature Conservancy Weed Alert! for B. sylvaticum

Oregon False-brome Working Group

"Foreign Grasses Threaten California Forests" - video from KPIX-5 (San Francisco), January 5, 2006.

Brachypodium sylvaticum Identification Sheet from the San Francisquito Watershed Council.


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