Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 12 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Dinebra panicea (Retz.) P. M. Peterson & N. Snow subsp. panicea; Poa panicea Retz.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: ji zi cao

English: mucronate sprangletop, red sprangletop, sprangle top, thread sprangletop

Spanish: cola de buey, paja colorado, paja de burro, paja mona, plumilla, zacate salado

Habit:  grass

Description:  "A strongly tufted, annual grass; culms erect or branching, geniculate below, smooth, 40 to 100 cm tall or often shorter; leaf sheaths smooth to sparsely hairy, often with thin, long, tubercle-based hairs on the upper portion; ligule of lower leaves 1.5 to 3 mm, irregularly toothed (dentate); blades flat, linear-lanceolate, thin, acute, smooth or slightly rough above, otherwise smooth and sparsely long-hairy, from 3 to 10 mm wide, 5 to 45 cm long; inflorescence a panicle, with an axis 6 to 30 cm long, straight, with longitudinal lines (striate), slightly rough in part; panicle often reddish or purplish, somewhat sticky, of numerous slender racemes; racemes solitary or in clusters of two to fine, ultimately wide-spreading, 5 to 10 cm long, on an axis mostly about one-half the entire length of the culm; spikelets two- to three-, rarely four-flowered, 1.3 to 2.5 mm long, rather distant on the rachis; pedicels of spikelets 0.3 to 0.7  mm long; glumes acuminate, longer than the first floret, with scattered harsh hairs on the midnerve, upper glume slightly longer (1 to 1.8 mm); lemmas awnless, hairy on the nerves, 1.5 mm long; paleas hairy on the nerves; grain (caryopsis) broadly oblong, smoothly or finely reticulated, reddish brown or brown, 0.7 to 0.8 mm long.  This species may be distinguished by its irregularly toothed ligule, its two- to three-, rarely four-flowered spikelets which are rather distant on the rachis, and by the tubercle-based hairs which often occur on the leaf sheaths"  (Holm et al., 1977; p. 309).

"Tufted, ascending to erect annual grass, 25-120 cm tall, the stems commonly geniculate near base.  Leaf sheaths with fine, bulbous-based hairs; ligule a membranous fringe 1-1.5 mm long; leaf blades linear-lanceolate, 5-45 cm - 3-10 mm, sparsely long hairy with a whitish bloom.  Inflorescence a reddish, slightly sticky panicle, 6-30 cm long; racemes spreading, 5-10 cm long, solitary or in clusters of 2-5.  Spikelets 2-4-flowered, 2.5-3.5 mm long.  Caryopsis oblong, 0.5-0.8 mm long, finely rugose, reddish-brown."  (Waterhouse & Mitchell, 1998).

Leptochloa panicea can be distinguished from L. chinensis in that it has scattered, long, fine tubercle-based hairs, and fewer florets (2-4) per spikelet (Waterhouse & Mitchell, 1998; pp. 79-80).

Description from GrassBase.

See also Leptochloa mucronata.

Habitat/ecology:  "Associated with wetlands, swamps, or streams in open lowland regions.  Cannot withstand extremely dry or extremely wet soils, is frequently associated with heavy soils, and is found in waste places, swampy areas, gardens, roadsides, disturbed soils, rice fields, along streams, and in teak forests.  Can grow in open sun or in light shade" (Holm et al., 1977; p. 310). "Waste places, swampy areas, rice fields, gardens and roadsides, commonly in heavy soils. A weed of rice, corn, cotton, soybeans, sugarcane, peanuts and pastures" (Waterhouse & Mitchell, 1998; pp. 79-80).

Propagation:  "Seed dispersed by water and animals and as a contaminant of produce" (Waterhouse & Mitchell, 1998; pp. 79-80).

Native range:  Tropical Asia (Waterhouse & Mitchell, 1998; pp. 79-80). Tropical Africa and Asia; naturalized in neotropics (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Saipan	Saipan Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 47) Also Leptochloa panicea (Retz.) Ohwi subsp. brachiata (Steud.) N. Snow as Leptochloa filiformis (Lam.) Beauv.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Saipan	Saipan Island	probably introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. (1982) (p. 101) Voucher cited: Hosaka 2990 (US, BISH, POM, CANB)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex (2012) (pp. 44-45) subsp. Brachiata (Steud.) N. Snow. Voucher cited: J. Ho 20110801 (BISH)
Japan (offshore islands) Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands	Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands		Kato, Hidetoshi (2007)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Roadsides, rice fields, damp weedy places. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang.
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 339) In farmland.
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Japan Japan	Japan	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Kyushu
Japan Ryukyu Islands	Ryukyu Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Colombia	introduced invasive	Holm, Leroy G./Plucknett, D. L./Pancho, J. V./Herberger, J. P. (1977) (pp. 310-311)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	introduced invasive	Holm, Leroy G./Plucknett, D. L./Pancho, J. V./Herberger, J. P. (1977) (p. 310)
Taiwan Taiwan Island	Taiwan Island	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Roadsides, rice fields, damp weedy places.
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)

Comments:  "A serious weed in the Philippines, Central America; a principal weed in South America and parts of southeast Asia" (Waterhouse & Mitchell, 1998; pp. 79-80).

Control:  If you know of control methods for Leptochloa panicea, please let us know.