Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Nees
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Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Nees
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Gramineae Synonyms
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Author: L.’t Mannetje |
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Common names Red sprangletop (En),Indonesia: timunan (Javanese), bebontengan (Sundanese), jangkiri (Flores). Philippines: palay-maya (Tagalog), karukauáyan (Bikol). Thailand: ya-yonhu, ya-dokkhao (central), ya-metnga (northeast). Origin and geographic distribution L. chinensis originated in tropical Asia and is distributed throughout South-East Asia, Burma, Sri Lanka, India, China, Japan, Australia and from East to South Africa. An aquatic or semi-aquatic tufted annual or perennial, with stout to slender, erect or geniculate culms up to 1.5 m tall, often rooting at the lower nodes. Leaf-sheath loose, subglaucous, smooth, up to 10 cm long; ligule a fringed, hairy membrane, 1-2 mm long; leaf-blade linear, up to 50 cm x 1 cm, long-attenuate, flat or folded, scabrid above. Inflorescence 10-60 cm long, composed of numerous slender racemes scattered along an elongate central axis; racemes flexuous, 2-13 cm long, erect or laxly ascending; spikelets 3-7 flowered, narrowly elliptical-oblong, 2-3 mm, subsessile, often purplish, disarticulating above the glumes and between the florets; glumes unequal, scabrid on the back of the nerves; lemmas hairy on the nerves, awnless. Caryopsis ellipsoid-oblongoid, 6-9 mm long, brown, smooth or wrinkled. L. chinensis is an abundant seed producer. The related, more widely spread L. panicea (syn. L. polystachya) is eaten by cattle when young. It differs by the longer leaf-sheaths (up to 13.5 cm), the papillate-pilose hairs on the leaves and the 2-5-flowered spikelets. L. panicea much resembles the American L. filiformis (Manidool 1992). Use L. chinensis is used as fodder. It is a troublesome weed in rice fields (Häfliger and Scholz 1981), but farmers collect and feed it to their animals. In East Africa the grain is used as famine food. Properties It is highly palatable and very leafy, but there is no information on its nutritive value. Toxicity None has been reported. Ecology L. chinensis grows from near sea level up to 1400 m altitude. It is adapted to moist, swampy places in open habitats, especially if disturbed, on heavy or light soils. It flowers over most of the year. Propagation and planting L. chinensis is propagated by seed or by rooted tillers. Adequate soil moisture is the main factor affecting the growth of this aquatic plant, although it has been observed that improved soil fertility in rice fields also results in better growth. The seedlings develop quickly so that they can keep pace with the rising level of floodwater and thus survive. Performance It is harvested by cutting forage above the water level in paddy fields or by grazing. No yield data are available, but in open waste places it should give reasonable yields. It can make good hay but when cut it is normally collected and fed green to livestock. It is not an important forage, but will continue to be a useful supplementary feed source in lowland areas. Links Links for the genus
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