Relatives
Echinochloa utilis Ohwi et Yabuno - Cultivated cockspur; the Japanese millet.
Regular position.
Family Poaceae Benth. Genera Echinochloa Beauv.Morphology and biology.
Annual cereal. Stalks branch at the bottom nodes. Under an inflorescence, the plant is non-pubescent and smooth, 20-150 cm in height. Leaves flat, non-pubescent, 7-20 mm in width, ligula absent. Panicle 5-10 cm in length and 2-4 cm in width, very dense; branchlets of the first order ascending, usually ramified, located close to one another. Spikelets 2.3-3.6 mm in length, almost spherical. Bottom spikelet scales are half the length of the spikelet; top spikelet scales and bottom floral scales of a sterile flower have sparse spinules and bristles. Floral scales of fertile flower 2.3-3.5 mm in length, inversely obovate, coriaceous, brilliant. Blossoms in July-September. Anemophilous. 2n=54.Distribution.
Occurs in the southern Far East; occasionally cultivated at experiment stations in the southern European region of the former USSR, the Caucasus, Central Asia, China, and Japan; cultivated in the USA.Ecology.
Cultural plant. Runs wild in crops, along roadsides and on waste grounds.Use and economic value.
Groat and a fodder plant.Literature cited:
Kharkevich S.S., ed. 1985. Vascular plants of the Soviet Far East. Vol. 1. Leningrad: "Nauka", 398 pages.Tzvelev N.N. 1976. Cereals of the USSR. Leningrad: "Nauka", 788 pages.