Leptochloa chinensis Nees

Chinese sprangletop (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Poales > Poaceae > Leptochloa

Characteristics

Annual or sometimes perennial. Culms erect, geniculate or decumbent and rooting from nodes, 30–100 cm tall, smooth and glabrous. Leaf sheaths glabrous; leaf blades flat or slightly involute, 5–25 × 0.2–0.9 cm, glabrous, scabrid on both surfaces or abaxial surface smooth, apex acuminate; ligule membranous, 1–5 mm. Inflorescence 10–50 cm; racemes numerous, unilateral, to 10 cm, slender, flexuose, laxly ascending, rachis scabrid, spikelets usually imbricate. Spikelets purplish or brownish green, narrowly elliptic-oblong, laterally compressed, 2–4 mm, florets 3–7; glumes scabrid along keels and sometimes laterally; lower glume lanceolate, 1–1.5 mm, acute; upper glume elliptic-oblong, 1.2–2 mm, obtuse; lemmas elliptic-oblong, keeled, lowest ca. 1.5 mm, shortly appressed-hairy along lower margins and on either side of midvein, obtuse or minutely emarginate; palea minutely hispid on keels, appressed hairy on back and flaps. Anthers ca. 0.5 mm. Caryopsis oblong, 0.7–0.9 mm, plano-convex. Fl. and fr. Aug–Oct. 2n = 40.
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Hygrophytic, tufted perennial 440-820 mm tall; stoloniferous; sheaths papery; leaves cauline. Leaf blade 200-500 x 3.0-7.5 mm, linear, glabrous; ligule a fringed membrane, 1.8-5.4 mm long. Inflorescence 200-600 mm long. Spikelet 2.1-3.5 mm long, 2-6-flowered; glumes unequal, shorter than spikelet, often tinged purplish; upper glume obtuse to rounded, without mucro or awn; lemma laterally compressed, keeled, entire or bifid, hairy along nerves; anthers 0.3-0.6 mm long, dark maroon; caryopsis 0.6-0.9 mm long, elliptic-oblong.
Perennial, hydrophyte, stoloniferous, and tufted, up to 0.82 m high. Leaf blades 200-500 mm long, 3.0-7.5 mm wide, leaf sheaths white, papery and glabrous. Spikelets 2.1-3.2 mm long. Panicle 200-600 mm long; spikelets 2-6-flowered; glumes unequal, shorter than lemmas.
A cereal grass. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 1 m tall. The leaf blades are 5-25 cm long by 2-9 mm wide. They can be flat or slightly rolled. The flowering shoots are 10-50 cm long. The seed is 7-9 mm long.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.66 - 1.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c4

Environment

A tropical plant. It grows in clay soils between 460-910 m above sea level. It is usually in or near water. In southern China it grows in moist places between 200-1,000 m above sea level. It is rare in Swaziland. In Sichuan and Yunnan.
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Adapted to moist, swampy places in open habitats, especially if disturbed, on heavy or light soils at elevations from sea level to 1,400 metres.
Light -
Soil humidity 10-12
Soil texture 1-2
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

Uses animal food fodder food gene source
Edible seeds
Therapeutic use -
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°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leptochloa chinensis unspecified picture

Distribution

Leptochloa chinensis world distribution map, present in Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Philippines, Korea (Democratic People's Republic of), eSwatini, Thailand, Taiwan, Province of China, Tanzania, United Republic of, Viet Nam, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:407074-1
WFO ID wfo-0000877816
COL ID 3TM3C
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Eleusine chinensis Leptochloa eragrostoides Leptochloa tetraquetra Poa chinensis Poa secundaria Cynosurus capillaceus Cynodon virgatus Leptochloa capillacea Leptochloa chinensis Poa sessilis Poa sinensis