Echinochloa stagnina
Echinochloa stagnina
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
The plant invades rivers causing obstruction of the waterway. It is a major component of sudd in several African rivers. Its presence is indicative of fresh-water, rather than brackish. It is a weed of rice-fields in Madagascar and irrigation channels in The Gambia[1]. The plants are traditionally harvested using boats and by beating the inflorescences over a net. As the grains shatter easily, they are harvested at an early stage[2].
Propagation
Seed - when stored under water in the dark at a temperature of 20°c they showed no dormancy and had a germination percentage of almost 100%; whereas seeds kept under dry conditions had a dormancy period of 6 - 7 months[2]. The dormancy is broken by removing the glumes, but this results in rapidly reduced viability[2]. Seeds germinate within a week after sowing[2]. Stem cuttings[2]. Division[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Echinochloa+stagnina>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. — Burkil. H. M. · Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. · 1985 - 2004 ↩︎Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
- [2]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
- [3]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.