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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Plant Species > Graminoid > Species: Echinochloa crus-galli | Barnyard Grass
 

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BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

SPECIES: Echinochloa crus-galli | Barnyard Grass
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : Barnyard grass is an introduced, nonrhizomatous, warm-season annual. Stems may be solitary or in small tufts, erect or reclining at the base, up to 6.6 feet tall (2 m) [16,28,39,52,80]. Leaves are flat, 4 to 12 inches (10-30 cm) long and 0.2 to 0.6 (5-15 mm) inch wide [18,19,27,46]. The panicle is 2 to 8.4 inches (5-21 cm) long, upright or nodding [19,46,68]. Barnyard grass has a fibrous root system [39,49]. RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : Therophyte REGENERATION PROCESSES : Barnyard grass reproduces by seed. It is self-pollinating [51] and a prolific seed producer [28,44,68]. A healthy plant can produce from 750,000 to one million seeds [44]. Barnyard grass seed is water dispersed [1]. Seed viability in soil is variable [10,44]. In Stoneville, Mississippi, in 1972, a 50-year study on longevity of buried seed of barnyard grass was initiated. Seed viability was 1 percent after burial for 2.5 years; less than 6 percent of seed survived 6 months or longer [10]. However, according to Dawson [8], barnyard grass seed may be viable in the soil for up to 13 years. In another study by Mitich [44], seed viability of barnyard grass was 100 percent after 6 to 8 years of dry storage in irrigated sandy loam soil, and all seed was nonviable after 15 years. Watanabe [79] found that barnyard grass seed germination rate was 27 percent after burial for 6 months and 3 percent after burial for 6.5 years. Barnyard grass seed germinates over a wide temperature range, 55 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (13-40 deg C), with optimum germination occurring from 68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit (20-30 deg C) [53,62]. The buoyancy and hence dispersal by water of barnyard grass seeds is probably influenced by their weight. A survey of seed weight [1] demonstrated that seeds of E. crus-galli var. oryzicola were on the average 2 to 3 times heavier than those of E. crus-galli var. crus-galli. The lighter seeds of E. crus-galli var. crus-galli exhibited greater buoyancy, with approximately 50 percent of seeds remaining afloat after 4 to 5 days in water. In contrast, 95 percent of E. crus-galli var. oryzicola seeds had sunk after 5 days. Decay of dormancy in E. crus-galli var. oryzicola is more rapid than in E. crus-galli var. crus-galli following dry storage and burial in soil. SITE CHARACTERISTICS : Barnyard grass is widespread in fields, waste places, ditches, marshes, wet meadows, floodplains and along lakeshores and streambanks [18,20,33,38,39]. It is locally common in floodplains, riverbottoms, and seasonally wet habitats [1,63,80], but also occurs in drier habitats [24]. Barnyard grass is most often found on disturbed, generally nonsaline soils [25,53,63], but grows on a variety of soil types [38,53]. Echinochloa crus-galli var. crus-galli is generally absent from sites that have greater than 12 inches (30 cm) of standing water for more than 4 weeks at a time [42,63]. It occurs in shallow water or after drawdown [63]. Barnyard grass tolerates poor drainage and flooding, but not severe drought [7,31,44,60]. In California, the two varieties of barnyard grass differ in habitat preference and colonizing ability. Echinochloa crus-galli var. crus-galli is a cosmopolitan weed of wet, disturbed ground and occurs in shallow water around the periphery of rice fields. Echinochloa crus-galli var. oryzicola is a crop mimic that is found primarily in permanently flooded cultivated rice fields [1]. Elevations of barnyard grass are as follows: feet meters Arizona 150-7,000 45-2,100 [27] California <4,950 <1,500 [20] Colorado 4,500-7,500 1,350-2,250 [19] Kansas 3,370-4,675 1,021-1,417 [38] Montana 2,800-3,300 840-1,000 [86] South Dakota 1,940-2,025 587- 614 [71] Texas 7,400 2,320 [21] Utah 2,705-7,045 820-2,135 [80] Wyoming 3,700-5,100 1,110-1,530 [86] SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : Barnyard grass is a pioneer species that readily invades disturbed sites [63,68]. It is found most often in open, unshaded areas [25,44], and is intolerant of dense shade [44]. Barnyard grass invades South Dakota rangelands and rapidly colonizes overflow and subirrigated range sites that have been denuded or disturbed in Nebraska [37,68]. In Idaho, barnyard grass is an increaser species on periodically flooded sites along streams [58]. At a restoration prairie site in Ohio, barnyard grass established at the edge of an ephemeral pond that is subject to periodic flooding and drying [7]. In an old-field succession deciduous forest in southwestern Ohio, barnyard grass was found growing in a 2-year-old stand, but was not present in stands 10, 50, 90, or 200 years old [56,74]. SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : Barnyard grass flowering dates for several states are as follows: Arizona July-Sept [27] California July-Oct [46] Colorado Aug-Sept [86] Florida all year [84] Illinois Aug-Oct [45] Montana June-Oct [86] Nebraska Aug-Sept [61] North Carolina July-Oct [52] North Dakota July 15 [65] South Carolina July-Oct [52] West Virginia Aug-Oct [67] Wyoming Aug-Oct [86] Great Plains June-Sept [16]

Related categories for Species: Echinochloa crus-galli | Barnyard Grass

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