Bothriochloa pertusa (L.) A.Camus, Poaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Andropogon pertusus (L.) Willd.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: kong ying cao

English: Indian couch grass, hurricane grass, pitted beardgrass, pitted bluestem

Spanish: comagueyana

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Sprawling perennials, rhizomes contracted; culms 30-100 cm tall, hollow, freely branching, glabrous except upwardly bearded at nodes, rooting at lower nodes.  Sheaths keeled, hirsute; ligule a ciliate membrane, 0.7-1.2 mm long; blades 3-4 mm wide, with scattered, elongate, papillose-based hairs along margins and above ligule.  Inflorescences terminal, often purplish, flabellate, 3-5 cm long, peduncles exserted up to 12 cm from the subglabrous, bladeless upper sheath, glabrous or slightly bearded at apex, consisting of several ascending racemes, racemosely arranged along a short axis, pedicels of pedicellate spikelet ca. 3 mm long, densely villous, flattened; pedicellate spikelet 3-4 mm long, sterile or sometimes staminate, often purple-tinged, scaberulous; sessile spikelet ca. 5 mm long; first glume subcoriaceous, with a conspicuous pit in the middle, villous on lower 1/2, scabrous on upper 1/2, attenuate, often bidentate at apex, second glume ca. 5 mm long, submembranous, keeled, minutely puberulent at apex, otherwise glabrous, apiculate; first (sterile) lemma 2.5-2.7 mm long, hyaline, ciliate on upper margins, fertile lemma reduced to a slender, geniculate, reddish brown awn 15-20 mm long; palea absent.  Caryopsis ovoid to ellipsoid, 1.5-2 mm long."  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1503).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized usually in open, disturbed sites such as pastures, savannas, and along roadsides, 5-1,340 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1503). In New Caledonia, "commun en pâturages de la côte Ouest" (MacKee, 1994; p. 57).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Paleotropics, now naturalized in the neotropics (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1503).

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) Northern Mariana Islands	Tinian Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1985) (voucher ID: PTBG 41078) Taxon name on voucher: Bothriochloa pertusa (L.) A. Camus
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Aitutaki Atoll		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2002) (voucher ID: PTBG 41391) Taxon name on voucher: Bothriochloa pertusa
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2013)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Voucher cited: D.H. Lorence & W.L. Wagner 6074 (PAP)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1988) (voucher ID: PTBG 6616) Taxon name on voucher: Bothriochloa pertusa
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island		Donnegan, Joseph A./Butler, Sarah L./Grabowiecki, Walter/Hiserote, Bruce A./Limtiaco, David (2004) (p. 22)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1503)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaho‘olawe Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1503)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1503)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1503)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1503)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1503)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Ni‘ihau Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1503)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1503) Voucher cited: Hosaka 1378 (BISH)
New Caledonia Matthew Island	Île Matthew	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 57) Voucher cited: Veillon 3411
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Gargominy, Oliver/Bouchet, Philipe/Pascal, Michel/Jaffre, Tanguy/Tourneu, Jean-Christophe (1996) (p. 380) Commune en pâturages de la côte Ouest.
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 57) Voucher cited: Däniker 1678
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Midway Atoll	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim (2000) (p. 11) Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 990507-4 (BISH)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Sand Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd (2008) (pp. B-4)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
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) Grassy hills, disturbed ground; 1200-1500 m. Guangdong, Sichuan, Yunnan.
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 328) In grasses of hillslopes.
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Control:  If you know of control methods for Bothriochloa pertusa, please let us know.