Cynosurus echinatus L., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: bristly dogstail grass, rough dog's-tail

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual; caespitose. Culms erect, or geniculately ascending; 10-100 cm long; 2-6 -noded. Leaf-sheaths without keel; glabrous on surface. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 5-10 mm long; obtuse. Leaf-blades 5-20 cm long; 3-10 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface scabrous; rough adaxially. Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle contracted; oblong, or ovate, or globose; secund; 1-8 cm long; 1-2 cm wide. Panicle branches smooth. Spikelets in pairs, or in threes. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1 in the cluster. Companion sterile spikelets sessile; 1-2 in the cluster. Sterile spikeltes: Companion sterile spikelets well-developed; containing empty lemmas; obovate; laterally compressed; 7-13 mm long; longer than fertile; persistent. Companion sterile spikelet lemmas 6-18; exserted from glumes; 2.5-5 mm long (lanceolate); 1-awned; with 1.4-3 mm long awn. Fertile spikelets: Spikelets comprising 1-5 fertile florets; with a barren rhachilla extension. Spikelets cuneate; laterally compressed; 8-14 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Glumes persistent; similar; reaching apex of florets. Lower glume lanceolate; 7-12 mm long; 1 length of upper glume; membranous; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex attenuate. Upper glume lanceolate; 7-12 mm long; 1.5 length of adjacent fertile lemma; membranous; 1-keeled; 2 -veined. Upper glume apex attenuate. Florets: Fertile lemma ovate; 5-7 mm long; coriaceous; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma surface scabrous; rough above. Lemma apex entire, or dentate; 2 -fid; obtuse; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn apical, or from a sinus; 6-16 mm long overall; limb scabrous. Rhachilla extension 0.25 length of fertile floret. Flower: Anthers 3; 2.5-4 mm long. Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; oblong; 3-4 mm long. Embryo 0.2 length of caryopsis. Hilum punctiform"  (GrassBase).

Description from Flora of New Zealand.

Habitat/ecology:  In New Zealand, "on roadsides, waste land, in pasture and crops, and on hillsides in grassland; lowland to montane"  (Edgar & Connor, 2000; p. 94).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Canary and Madeira Islands, northern Africa, Europe, central and western Asia; naturalized elsewhere (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 553)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 553)

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)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2011) "Weed of waste and cultivated areas".
Canada Province of British Columbia	Canada (British Columbia)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 192)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 94)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Washington)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

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)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Control:  Herbicide resistance in Chile.

Additional information:
Additional online information about Cynosurus echinatus is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Cynosurus echinatus as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Cynosurus echinatus may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Clayton, W.D./Harman, K.T./Williamson, H. 2011. World Grass Species: Descriptions, Identification, and Information Retrieval [GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora]. The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Edgar, E./Connor, H. 2000. Flora of New Zealand, vol. V: Gramineae. Manaaki Whenua Press. .

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

National Herbarium of New South Wales. 2011. PlantNet: New South Wales Flora online. The Plant Information Network System of the Botanic Gardens Trust Version 2.0. Online resource.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.