Plants in Israel: Foxtail brome

Bromus alopecuros, Foxtail brome, Roadside Brome, Weedy brome,
Hebrew: ברומית זנב-שועל, Arabic: شعير

Scientific name:   Bromus alopecuros Poir.
Common name:   Foxtail brome, Roadside Brome, Weedy brome
Hebrew name:   ברומית זנב-שועל
Arabic name:   شعير
Plant Family:   Graminea (Poaceae), Grass Family, משפחת הדגניים


Life form:   Therophyte, annual
Stems:   up to 45 centimeters tall
Leaves:   Alternate, entire, smooth
Flowers:   Green
Fruits / pods:   Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, apex hairy
Flowering Period:   February, March, April
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Bromus, from the Greek broma, “food”, and bromos, “oat”.

alopecuros, αλωπεκουροϛ (αλωπεξ ουρα), Theophrastus: fox tail, fox brush; fox tail.
The Hebrew word:ברומית, bromit, from the foreign languages.

  • The standard author abbreviation Poiret is used to indicate Jean Louis Marie Poiret ( 1755 – 1834), a French clergyman, botanist and explorer.