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Echinochloa crus-galli

barnyardgrass

Overview

Echinochloa crus-galli is a warm-season annual grass forming clumps 1-5 feet (30-150 cm) tall, sometimes taller in rich wet soil, with stems that root at the lower nodes and often bend outward at the base. Leaf blades are flat, 4-20 inches (10-50 cm) long and 0.2-1 inch (5-25 mm) wide, smooth, with a whitish midrib and no ligule where the blade meets the sheath. The flowering panicle is 4-10 inches (10-25 cm) long, green to purple-tinged, branched, and crowded with bristly spikelets that may carry awns up to 2 inches (5 cm) long or be nearly awnless. Each plant produces hundreds to thousands of seeds in a single season. Growth is fast in warm weather, and plants complete the cycle from germination to seed in 6-10 weeks. The shallow fibrous roots pull up readily, but stem fragments can re-root in moist soil.

Native Range

Native to Europe and Asia, and naturalized worldwide in temperate and tropical regions. It grows in wet disturbed ground, ditches, pond margins, irrigated fields, and rice paddies, mostly below 6,500 feet (2,000 m).

Suggested Uses

Not a planted ornamental; it is managed as a weed of rice, row crops, and wetlands. The seed is eaten by waterfowl and songbirds, and the foliage is grazed as forage where it is not controlled. It sometimes appears in restored wetland seed banks.

How to Identify

Identified by flat leaf blades with a white midrib and the absence of a ligule, a feature that separates it from most other grasses. The branched panicle is crowded with bristly, often purple-tinged spikelets bearing awns of variable length. Stems are stout, sometimes reddish at the base, and bend outward before rising.

Appearance

Size & Dimensions

Height1' - 5'

Width/Spread1' - 2'

Colors

Flower Colors

Foliage Colors

Fall Foliage Colors

Bloom Information

Bloom Period

~8 weeks

Summer Fall

Flowers and sets seed from midsummer through autumn, mainly July to October in the Northern Hemisphere. The panicles emerge over several weeks as new stems develop. Seed shedding begins within a few weeks of flowering and continues until frost kills the plant.

Detailed Descriptions

Flower Description

green to purple

Foliage Description

green

Growing Conditions

Sun Requirements

SunFull Sun

Requires 6-12 hours of direct sunlight daily

• Full Sun: 6+ hours of direct sunlight

• Partial Shade: 3-6 hours of direct sunlight

• Full Shade: Less than 3 hours of direct sunlight

Soil Requirements

pH Range5.0 - 7.5(Neutral)

357912

Soil Types

clay loam silt sand

Drainagemoist

Water & Climate

Water Needs

High

Care & Maintenance

Care Guide

Grows in full sun on moist to wet soils high in nitrogen and tolerates standing water and brief flooding. It germinates over a long period through spring and summer whenever soil is warm and damp. In crops and gardens it competes strongly for water and nutrients and is controlled by pulling plants before they set seed. Few diseases limit it. Seed survives several years in the soil, so stands persist after the parent plants are removed.

Pruning

No pruning applies to this annual grass. Mowing or cutting before the panicles mature prevents seed set, though cut stems may resprout from the base in wet soil. Pulling whole plants by the roots is the usual way to stop spread.