Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Leptochloa panicea (Retz.) Ohwi subsp. brachiata (Steud.) N. Snow

Common name(s): [more details]

English: red sprangletop

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Annual; culms slender to somewhat coarse, branching, erect, or ascending from geniculate base, 15-100 cm tall; sheaths glabrous or more or less papillose-pilose with long weak hairs; ligule a ciliate membrane 1-2 mm long; blades elongate, 3-8 mm wide, glabrous or sparsely papillose-pilose; inflorescence often half the length of culm, with several to many slender spreading to reflexed branches (1) 2-8 (15) cm long; spikelets 2- or 3-flowered, 2-3 mm long; glumes 1-nerved, narrow, acuminate, subequal, scabrous on keel, nearly as long as spikelet; lemmas about 1.5 mm long, awnless, appressed-pubescent on nerves"  (Wiggins & Porter, 1971).

See also Leptochloa chinensis and Leptochloa panicea.

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  United States, Mexico, West Indies, Central America and into northern South America; naturalized in Africa and Australia (GRIN)

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Española Group	Española Island	possibly introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Española Group	Gardner por Española Islet, Española Island	possibly introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Española Group	Oeste Islet, Española Island	possibly introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	possibly introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Gardner por Floreana Island, Floreana Island	possibly introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Pinzón Group	Pinzón Island	possibly introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	possibly introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Plaza Norte Islet, Santa Cruz Island	possibly introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	possibly introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Fé Group	Santa Fé Island	possibly introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)

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)	Australia (continental)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Naturalized
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. 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)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  Probably not native to the Galápagos Islands, possibly introduced, per Charles Darwin Research Station.

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

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

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

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

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

Wiggins, I. L./Porter, D. M. 1971. Flora of the Galapágos Islands. Stanford University Press. 998 pp.