Bromus secalinus
L.
Cheat, Chess
(c) Věra Kafková, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Věra Kafková
(c) Barbara L. Wilson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Barbara L. Wilson
What to Eat
Edible parts: Seeds, Cereal
Although not considered very palatable, the grains are edible and starchy, and are suggested to have been used as food in Europe from the late Neolithic to the Iron Age.
Where to Find It
It is a temperate plant. It grows on grassy slopes between 500-1,500 m above sea level in SW China.
Argentina, Asia, Chile, China, Estonia, Europe, Korea, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovenia, South America, Taiwan, Tibet, USA,
How to Identify
A grass. It grows each year from seeds. The culms are stout and erect. They are 30-60 cm tall. The leaf baldes are 5-15 cm long by 3-6 mm wide. The flowers are in a loose panicle. It is 5.15 cm long by 2-6 cm wide. It is nodding.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Bromus secalinus is a species of bromegrass known as rye brome. The specific epithet secalinus is Latin, meaning "rye-like". The fruits are hard, rounded glumes that appear superficially similar to the rye grain, which gives the brome its common and scientific name. The grass has a diploid number of 28. The grass is native to Eurasia but is well known in many other parts of the world where it has been introduced. It is a noxious weed throughout much of North America.
Notes
It grows as a weed in wheat fields.
Names & Synonyms
Lusted, Kaer, žitna stoklasa
References (2)
- Kalle, R. & Soukand, R., 2012, Historical ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants of Estonia (1770s-1960s) Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 81(4):271-281
- Łukasz Łuczaj and Wojciech M Szymański, 2007, Wild vascular plants gathered for consumption in the Polish countryside: a review. J Ethnobiol Ethnomedicine. 3: 17
