Index / Search / Briza maxima

§1 Plant

Briza maxima L.

vernacular big quakinggrass — species · Poaceae


USDA
BRMA
GBIF
2702792
Rank
species
big quakinggrass (Briza maxima)
Platephotograph · Murat KurtelCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Annual
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Briza
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 3 states/territories
Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 4 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
47 °F minimum
Frost-free days
90 min.
Precipitation
12–40 in/yr
pH range
5.8–7
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Rapid
Mature height
2 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
Yes
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Spring
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
80,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 3 states/territories.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/BRMA ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2702792 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T05:45:41Z