Mountain Brome

Mountain Brome is a native, cool season, perennial, bunch grass.  It is known as a pioneer species or early seral species meaning it is often one of the first species to colonize a disturbed area.  For this reason it is an excellent reclamation species.  It is short lived, so as other species start to flourish, it will typically decline in population.  It is typically found at higher elevations or areas that get more rainfall naturally, needing 16 – 20″ of precipitation.  It is highly palatable and nutritious, however, since it does not persist for many years, it is not a great pasture grass.

There are two commonly found releases of Mountain Brome, Bromar (1946) and Garnet (2001).  In addtion to the released varieties, Southwest Seed has a local ecotype known as UP Cold Springs which came from the Uncompahgre Plateau in West Central Colorado.