Echinochloa

Echinochloa
Common Barnyard Grass (Echinochloa crus-galli)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Subfamily:	Panicoideae
Tribe:	Paniceae
Genus:	Echinochloa P.Beauv.
Species
Several, see text

Echinochloa colona (Jungle Rice)

Echinochloa is a grass genus, some of whose members are millets grown as cereal or fodder crops. The most notable of these are Japanese Millet (E. esculenta) in East Asia, White Millet (E. frumentacea) in South Asia and Burgu Millet (E. stagnina) in West Africa. Collectively the members of this genus are called barnyard grasses (though this may also refer to E. crus-galli specifically), barnyard millets or billion-dollar grasses.

When not grown on purpose, these grasses may become nuisance weeds. In particular Common Barnyard Grass (E. crus-galli) is notorious in this regard^[1]; it is not easily suppressed by living mulch such as Velvet Bean (Mucuna pruriens vat. utilis)^[2]. Early Barnyard Grass (E. oryzoides) is a well-known example of Vavilovian mimicry: the plants have evolved to resemble rice (Oryza), enabling them to escape weeding more easily ^[3].

Among the plant pathogens that affect this genus are the sac fungus Cochliobolus sativus – which has been noted on Common Barnyard Grass – and rice hoja blanca virus. Both affect many other grass species, in particular most important cereals, and Echinochloa weeds may serve as a reservoir. The fungi Drechslera monoceras and Exserohilum monoceras have been evaluated with some success as potential biocontrol agents of Common Barnyard Grass in rice fields; more research is necessary however because they too may not be host specific enough to be of practical use^[4].

Selected species

• Echinochloa caudata
• Echinochloa colona – Shama Millet, Samo
• Echinochloa crus-galli – Common Barnyard Grass, Cockspur Grass
• Echinochloa crus-pavonis – Gulf Cockspur Grass
• Echinochloa esculenta – Japanese Millet
• Echinochloa frumentacea – White Millet
• Echinochloa inundata
• Echinochloa lacunaria (F.Muell.) P.W.Michael & Vickery
• Echinochloa muricata (P.Beauv.) Fernald – Rough Barnyard Grass, American Barnyard Grass
  • Echinochloa muricata var. microstachya
  • Echinochloa muricata var. muricata
• Echinochloa oryzoides – Early Barnyard Grass
• Echinochloa polystachya
• Echinochloa pyramidalis
• Echinochloa stagnina – Burgu Millet
• Echinochloa telmatophila
• Echinochloa turneriana
• Echinochloa walteri – Walter's Barnyard Grass

Footnotes

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Echinochloa

Wikispecies has information related to: Echinochloa

• Barrett, S. (1983): Mimicry in Plants. Sci. Am. 257(3): 76-83.
• Caamal-Maldonado, J.A.; Jimenez, J.J.; Torres, A. & Anaya, A. (2001): The use of allelopathic legume cover and mulch species for weed control in cropping systems. Agronomy Journal 93(1): 27-36. PDF fulltext
• Huang, S.W.; Watson, A.K.; Duan, G.F. & Yu, L.Q. (2001): Preliminary evaluation of potential pathogenic fungi as bioherbicides of barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) in China. International Rice Research Institute Notes 26(2): 36-37. PDF fulltext
• Pheng, S.; Khiev, B.; Pol, C. & Jahn, G.C. (2001): Response of two rice cultivars to the competition of Echinochloa crus-galli. International Rice Research Institute Notes 26(2): 36-37. PDF fulltext

External links

• Plants for a Future database on E. crus-galli
• Lost Crops of Africa: Volume 1: Grains, Chapter 14: Wild Grains
• Alternative Field Crops Manual: Millets
• Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne