Echinochloa colona

An annual grass with smooth leaf blades and sheaths and no ligule. Several rames spaced along the main axis, are up to 2.5 cm long, and upward facing, sometimes appressed. The rachis is hairy.

Fresh harvested seeds are dormant. Dormancy can be broken by dry storage for about 2 months. Ramakrishnan (1960) found light to be necessary for good germination. Despite the fact that E. colonum is an annual it can be propagated vegetatively. Nodes will produce roots when in contact with the soil and can be separated to produce new shoots.

Highly palatable to cattle, producing forage late in the hot summer period; good producer of seed for birds.

Jungle rice is a common weed in old fields and disturbed sites.

Old fields and disturbed sites.