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Barnyard Grass

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Barnyard Grass photos

Scientific Name:Echinochloa crus-galli
Flower-head of Barnyard Grass
Flower-head of Barnyard Grass
Photo: A J Brown

Other Common Name:

Orchard Grass

Status:

Native to southern Europe.

Plant Description:

Tufted annual grass to 150 cm high with flat, hairless leaves to 30 cm long and 2 cm wide. Flower-head is a green or purple panicle, 6-13 cm long, with spikelets crowded in clusters along short branches and several bristles subtending each group of spikelets. Spikelets 3-3.7 mm long, containing an empty lower floret and a bisexual upper floret.

Habitat:

Scattered weed of gardens, roadsides, ditches and irrigation channels. Usually found in fresh-water habitats but has been reported to have good salt and waterlogging tolerance.

RegionSalinity ClassWaterlogging Class
Mallee, Loddon Murray, Central and Northern, Wimmera, Western, GippslandS0, S1, S2W1, W2, W3

Comments:

A very variable species with probable wide ranging salt and waterlogging tolerance levels. Some cultivars have been developed overseas for grain and fodder.

Photos of Barnyard Grass

Flower-head of Barnyard Grass
Flower-head of Barnyard Grass
Photo: A J Brown
Spikelets of Barnyard Grass
Spikelets of Barnyard Grass
Photo: A J Brown

Stem and leaf of Barnyard Grass
Stem and leaf of Barnyard Grass
Photo: A J Brown
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