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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: Barnyard grass
Synonyms and Other Names: cockspur, Japanese millet, large barnyard grass, watergrass
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: Polymorphous coarse, tufted annual, tall and often weedy; culms erect to decumbent, 0.8-1.5 m tall, rather thick, branching at base; leaves flat, glabrous, elongate, 30-50 cm long, 1-2 cm broad, scabrous, slightly thickened at margin; ligules absent; sheaths smooth, lower ones often reddish; panicle 8-30 cm long, green or purple, exserted, somewhat nodding, densely branched, the branches to 5 cm long, erect or ascending, sessile; spikelets 3-4 mm long, densely arranged on branches, ovoid, awnless, but move often long-awned, pale green to dull purple, short-bristly along veins; racemes spreading, ascending or appressed, the lower somewhat distant, as much as 10 cm long, sometimes branched; glumes and lower lemma minutely hairy on surface with longer more rigid hairs on veins; first glume about two-fifths as long as spikelet, deltoid, the second as long as the spikelet, short-awned; sterile lemma membranous, with a straight scabrous awn, 2-4 cm long or awnless; fertile lemma ovate-elliptic, acute, pale yellow, lustrous, smooth, 3-3.5 mm long. Fl. Aug.-Oct.; seed maturing Sept.-Oct., up to 40,000/plant. Var. crusgalli has long, somewhat spreading papillose cilia at the summits of the internodes and bases of the branches in the inflorescence and short, very thick papillose cilia along the lateral nerves of the 2nd glume, sterile lemma, and somewhat spreading -spikes", and sterile lemmas with awns 0-10 mm long.
Size: to 1.5m
Native Range:
Eurasia
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 Alaska |
Hawaii |
Caribbean |
Interactive maps: Continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, Caribbean
Nonindigenous Occurrences:
widespread in the Great Lakes by 1843
E. crusgalli now occurs throughout the continental Unites States (AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY).
Ecology: The weed prefers wet soils and can continue to grow when partially submerged. On occasion it has been described as a weed of swamps and aquatic places. In drier soils it is not as tall and the yield of seeds and the numbers of panicles and tillers are reduced. It is normally found only at low and medium altitudes. It grows best in rich, moist soils with high nitrogen content, but it can also thrive on sands and loamy soils.
Means of Introduction: Deliberate release
Status: Established
Impact of Introduction:
This grass has been reported to accumulate levels of nitrate in its
tissues high enough to be toxic to farm animals (Holm et al., 1977).
It is an important source of food and cover for waterfowl. Seeds of it can be eaten by songbirds, waterfowl, and greater prairie chickens. Used as cattle fodder and sometimes cultivated for this purpose. Grass also used for reclamation of saline and alkaline areas, especially in Egypt.
Remarks:
References
Amerson, A. Binion, Jr., and Shelton, Philip C. 1976. The natural history of Johnston Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 192. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 479 pp.
Cardenas, Juan/Reys, Carlos E./Doll, Jerry D./Pardo, Fernando. 1972. Tropical weeds; malezas tropicales, vol. 1. International Plant Protection Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis. 341 pp.
Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.
Edgar, E. and Connor, H. 2000. Flora of New Zealand, vol. V: Gramineae. Manaaki Whenua Press.
Fosberg, F. R. and Sachet, M.-H. 1962. Vascular plants recorded from Jaluit Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 92. Pacific Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington. 39 pp.
Fosberg, F. R. and Sachet, M.-H. 1982. Micronesian Poaceae: Critical and distributional notes. Micronesica 18(2):45-102.
NewCROP (New Crops Resource Online Program). Purdue University. 2008. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/
Other Resources:
http://www.hear.org/Pier/species/echinochloa_crus_galli.htm
USGS - Wetland Plants and Plant Communities of Minnesota and Wisconsin
Author: Ling Cao
Contributing Agencies: 
NOAA - GLERL
Revision Date: 11/7/2007 Citation for this information:
Ling Cao. 2009. Echinochloa crusgalli Var. hispi shum, L.. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=2664> Revision Date: 11/7/2007
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