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Echinochloa frumentacea Link

Billion-dollar grass (en), Pied-de-coq cultivé (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Poales > Poaceae > Echinochloa

Characteristics

Annual. Culms robust, erect, 1–1.5 m tall. Leaf sheaths smooth and glabrous; leaf blades linear, soft, 15–40 × 1–2.4 cm, glabrous, margins thickened and wavy. Inflorescence erect, lanceolate, 10–20 cm, axis robust, scabrous along edges and with tubercle-based hairs; racemes 1–3 cm, curved, simple, closely spaced and overlapping. Spikelets greenish, tardily deciduous, plump, ovate-elliptic to rotund, 2.5–3.5 mm, pubescent to hispid, awnless; lower glume 1/3–2/5 as long as spikelet; upper glume slightly shorter than spikelet; lower lemma herbaceous, sterile; upper lemma 2–3 mm. Caryopsis long persistent, eventually falling. Fl. and fr. Aug–Sep. 2n = 36, 54.
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A cereal or millet. It is an annual grass. The culms are robust. It grows 1-1.5 m tall. The leaf sheaths are smooth. The leaves are broad. The leaf blade is soft and narrow. It is 15-40 cm long and 1-2.4 cm wide. The edges are thickened and wavy. The flower is erect and sword shaped. It is 10-20 cm long. The racemes are 1-3 cm long and closely spaced and overlapping. The spikelets are greenish. The grains are oval and light brown to purple.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination anemogamy
Spread epizoochory
Mature width (meter) 0.15
Mature height (meter) 1.2 - 1.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 0.35
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c4

Environment

It is a temperate plant. It is cultivated in S China. It can grow in arid places. Tasmanian Herbarium. In Sichuan and Yunnan.
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Not known in a truly wild situation.
Not known in a truly wild situation.
Light 7-8
Soil humidity 5-6
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 2-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 5-12

Usage

The grains are used as food. They are cooked like rice or turned into flour. This is used in porridge or gruel. It is also boiled in milk. The young shoots are also eaten.
Uses animal food fodder food gene source medicinal
Edible seeds
Therapeutic use Aphrodisiacs (seed), Bilious (unspecified), Constipation (unspecified), Vomiting (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) 25 - 30
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Echinochloa frumentacea unspecified picture

Distribution

Echinochloa frumentacea world distribution map, present in Afghanistan, Angola, Åland Islands, Austria, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Congo, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, France, Micronesia (Federated States of), Gambia, Indonesia, Kenya, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Mozambique, Malaysia, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Korea (Democratic People's Republic of), Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Togo, Thailand, Taiwan, Province of China, Tanzania, United Republic of, Ukraine, United States of America, Viet Nam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Conservation status

Echinochloa frumentacea threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30158481-2
WFO ID wfo-0000865321
COL ID 38H23
BDTFX ID 23407
INPN ID 95675
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Oplismenus frumentaceus Echinochloa frumentacea Panicum frumentaceum Echinochloa colona var. frumentacea Echinochloa crus-galli subsp. edulis Echinochloa crus-galli var. edulis Echinochloa crus-galli var. frumentacea Echinochloa glabrescens var. barbata Panicum crus-galli var. frumentacea Panicum crus-galli var. edulis
WorldFloraDB 2024