The Many Facets of Cheatgrass

Welcome to the website dedicated to the ever so lovely organism, Bromus tectorum! Originally native to the Mediterranean area, Bromus tectorum is an annual winter grass that can now be found throughout the world. The organism can be found in most of Europe, Canada, the United States, northern Africa, and southwest Asia. It has been distributed through migration and is characterized as an invasive species because it outcompetes native species. This organism has a multitude of common names it is known by.  

Its many aliases include;
Cheatgrass, downy brome, downy cheat,downy chess, early chess,
drooping brome, cheatgrass brome, wild oats,and military grass.
 
Chances are high you have seen this organism before.The grass can be found growing in pastures, prairies, fields, waste areas, eroded sites, and even roadsides.

Many other organisms can be found living with in this grass. You might find the spotted skunk or the alligator lizard crawling around in the grass looking for food to eat. One may also spot the pocket gopher digging a hole into its den. Sometimes there are even birds, such as the Steller's jay, flying above that come down to ground level to collect seedlings either for food or for nest material.

 

 To learn more about Cheatgrass and its relation to other organisms go to classification.

If this website has peaked your interest in learning about the vast array of organisms that populate the earth, check out other biology student's work at http://MultipleOrganisms.net

Click here to visit the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Website.

References can be found here.