Urochloa plantaginea (Link) R. D. Webster, Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Brachiaria plantaginea (Link) Hitchc.; Panicum plantagineum Link

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Alexander grass, marmalade grass, plantain signal grass

Spanish: gambutera, muela de caballo

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Habit: Annual. Culms decumbent; 40-100 cm long; rooting from lower nodes. Ligule a fringe of hairs; 1 mm long. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 4-21 cm long; 6-13 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface glabrous, or pubescent. Leaf-blade margins scabrous. Inflorescence composed of racemes. Racemes 2-8; borne along a central axis; unilateral; 2-11 cm long. Central inflorescence axis 10-20 cm long. Rhachis broadly winged; with sharp-edged midrib; 1-2 mm wide; scabrous on margins. Spikelet packing adaxial; regular; 2 -rowed. Spikelets ascending; solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled. Pedicels oblong; 0.5 mm long. Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets elliptic; dorsally compressed; compressed slightly; acute; 4-5.5 mm long; falling entire. Rhachilla internodes elongated between glumes. Glumes dissimilar; reaching apex of florets; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate; clasping; 0.25-0.33 times length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 3-5 -veined. Lower glume apex obtuse, or acute. Upper glume ovate; 1 times length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 5-7 -veined. Upper glume apex acute. Florets: Basal sterile florets barren; with palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret similar to upper glume; ovate; 1 times length of spikelet; membranous; 5 -veined; acute. Fertile lemma ovate; 3.5-5 mm long; indurate; without keel. Lemma surface granulose; unwrinkled, or rugulose. Lemma margins involute. Lemma apex obtuse. Palea involute; indurate; without keels. Palea surface granular, or rugose"  (GrassBase).

"Coarse glabrous or sometimes pilose annuals to 60 (-100) cm tall, spikelets 4-5 mm long, the first glume scarious, clasping, 1.5-2 mm long, second glume and sterile lemma similar, equal with slender prominent raised nerves and often with short ladderlike undulating raised veinlets between the nerves, the fertile lemma 3 mm long"  (Wagner & Herbst, 1995).

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

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  West Africa, Mexico, central and south America; 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
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Snow, Neil/Lau, Alex (2010) (p. 49) Voucher cited: K.F. Bio 01-0028-01 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. (2002) (p. 10) West Maui. Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H109908 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2004) (p. 26) East Maui. Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 011031-1 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R. (1995) (p. 24) Voucher cited: Hwwevar & Spence 5711 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R. (1995) (pp. 23-24) Vouchers cited: Hosaka 2551 (BISH), Shinbara 0-81 (BISH), Hosaka 2609 (BISH), Higashino et al. 8199 (BISH)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
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)

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

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

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

References:

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.

Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar. 1980. Grass weeds, vol. 1. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 142 pp. + plates.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. 2002. New plant records from the main Hawaiian Islands. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 69:1-14.

Snow, Neil/Lau, Alex. 2010. Notes on grasses (Poaceae) in Hawai‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2008. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 107:46-60.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2004. New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2003. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 79:20-30.

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

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R. 1995. Contributions to the Flora of Hawai‘i. IV. New Records and name changes. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 42:13-27.