Barnyard Grass

Barnyard Grass photos

Family: Grass (Poaceae syn. Gramineae)

Scientific Name:

Echinochloa crus-galli

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.

Region	Salinity Class	Waterlogging Class
Mallee, Loddon Murray, Central and Northern, Wimmera, Western, Gippsland	S0, S1, S2	W1, 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 Photo: A J Brown	Spikelets of Barnyard Grass Photo: A J Brown
Stem and leaf of Barnyard Grass Photo: A J Brown

Page top