Poaceae FAMILY

Echinochloa crus-galli

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

This grass has been reported to accumulate levels of nitrate in its tissues high enough to be toxic to farm animals[ 269 Title Handbook of Energy Crops Publication Author Duke. J. Website https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/dukeindex.html Publisher - Year 1983 ISBN - Description Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of both temperate and tropical plants. ]. This problem is most likely to occur when plants are fed with inorganic fertilizers[ K Title Plants for a Future Author Ken Fern Description Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips. ].

Botanical Description

Echinochloa crus-galli is a clump-forming annual grass with ascending or decumbent stems 30 - 120cm long. The plant is sometimes gathered from the wild for local use as a food and medicine. It is sometimes cultivated for its edible seed in India[ 171 Title Economic Botany. Publication Author Hill. A. F. Publisher The Maple Press Year 1952 ISBN - Description Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover. ], and is also sometimes grown in soil reclamation projects[ 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ]. The plant is considered to be a very serious weed of many cultivated crops[ 269 Title Handbook of Energy Crops Publication Author Duke. J. Website https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/dukeindex.html Publisher - Year 1983 ISBN - Description Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of both temperate and tropical plants. ]. It is regarded as the world's worst weed in paddy rice fields[ 310 Title Plant Resources of Southeast Asia Publication Author Website http://proseanet.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate; tropical

Native RangeNative habitat is unknown but it is widespread in warmer regions occasionally introduced in Britain

HabitatDitches roadsides and waste places in S. Europe[ 50 Title Flora Europaea Publication Author ? Publisher Cambridge University Press Year 1964 ISBN - Description An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for Europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader. ]. Wet places and rich soils in India[ 240 Title Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Publication Author Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Publisher Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. Year 1986 ISBN - Description Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader. ].