Echinochloa crus-galli
Echinochloa walteri
awn barnyard grass, barnyard grass, common barnyard grass, echinochloa pied-de-coq, large barnyard-grass, or large barnyard grass
coast barnyard grass, coast cockspur, coast cockspur grass, echinochloa de Walter, Walter's barnyard grass
30-200 cm, spreading, decumbent or stiffly erect;
nodes usually glabrous or the lower nodes puberulent.
(30) 50-200+ cm tall, to 2.5 cm thick;
nodes pilose or villous, upper nodes usually with sparser and shorter pubescence, occasionally glabrous.
glabrous;
ligules absent, ligule region sometimes pubescent;
blades to 65 cm long, 5-30 mm wide, usually glabrous, occasionally sparsely hirsute.
5-25 cm, with few-many papillose-based hairs at or below the nodes of the primary axes, hairs sometimes longer than the spikelets;
primary branches 1.5-10 cm, erect to spreading, longer branches with short, inconspicuous secondary branches, axes scabrous, sometimes also sparsely hispid, hairs to 5 mm, papillose-based.
8.5-35 cm, erect to slightly drooping, nodes hispid, hairs 3.5-5 mm, papillose-based, sometimes sparsely so, internodes usually glabrous, sometimes hispid, hairs papillose-based;
primary branches 1-10 cm, loosely erect, not concealed by the spikelets, nodes usually hispid, hairs papillose-based, sometimes glabrous, internodes scabrous, sometimes also sparsely hispid, hairs papillose-based;
secondary branches present on the longer primary branches.
2.5-4 mm long, 1.1-2.3 mm wide, disarticulating at maturity.
3-5 mm, disarticulating at maturity, scabrous to variously muricate and hairy, hairs usually not papillose-based, margins sometimes with a few papillose-based hairs.
usually more than 1/2 as long as the spikelets, abruptly narrowing to a fine, 0.5 mm point;
lower florets sterile;
lower lemmas usually awned, awns 8-25(60) mm;
lower paleas subequal to the lower lemmas;
upper lemmas 3-5 mm long, about 1.5 mm wide, not or scarcely exceeding the upper glumes, narrowly ovate to elliptical, coriaceous portion subacute, tips acuminate, membranous, without a line of hairs at the base of the tip;
anthers 0.6-1(1.2) mm.
about as long as the spikelets;
lower florets sterile;
lower lemmas unawned to awned, sometimes varying within a branch, awns to 50 mm;
lower paleas subequal to the lemmas;
upper lemmas broadly ovate to elliptical, coriaceous portion rounded distally, passing abruptly into an early-withering, acuminate, membranous tip that is further demarcated from the coriaceous portion by a line of minute hairs (use 25x magnification);
anthers 0.5-1 mm.
1.3-2.2 mm long, 1-1.8 mm wide, ovoid or oblong, brownish;
embryos 59-86% as long as the caryopses.
1.2-1.8 mm, brownish;
embryos 52-77% as long as the caryopses.
sheaths usually hispid, hairs papillose-based, sometimes just papillose;
upper sheaths hispid or glabrous;
ligules absent;
blades to 55 cm long, 10-35(60) mm wide, scabrous.
= 54.
= 36.
Echinochloa crus-galli
Echinochloa walteri
Echinochloa crus-galli is a Eurasian species that is now widely established in the Flora region, where it grows in moist, disturbed sites, including rice fields. Some North American taxonomists have interpreted E. crus-galli much more widely; others treat it as here, but recognize several infraspecific taxa based on such characters as trichome length and abundance, and awn length. There are several ecological and physiological ecotypes within the species, but the correlation between these and the species' morphological variation has not been established, so no infraspecific taxa are recognized here.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Echinochloa walteri grows in wet places, often in shallow water and brackish marshes. It is a native species that extends through Mexico to Guatamala. It is found in both disturbed and undisturbed sites although not in rice fields. Occasional specimens of E. walteri with glabrous lower sheaths and short awns can be distinguished from E. crus-pavonis by their less dense panicles.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
Go Botany
IL Wildflowers
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
MO Plants
