Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

BARNYARD GRASS

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Echinochloa muricata (Beauv. ) Fernald

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 1 to 5 feet

Family: Poaceae - Grass Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Culms:

Decumbent to ascending or erect, stout, glabrous.

Blades:

Flat, 4-20 inches long, 1/4 to 3/4 inch wide, smooth, mid-vein conspicuous; margins wavy-toothed.

Sheaths:

Glabrous.

Ligules:

Absent.

Inflorescences:

Panicles, erect or nodding, 3-12 inches long, pale green to purplish; branches 5-12, pressed together or spreading.

Spikelets:

Round, 1- or 2-flowered, arranged in 2 rows on 1 side of each branch rachis; sterile lemma and second glume usually bearing bristles that arise from blister-like bases; second glume pointed or bearing short awn; sterile lemma pointed or bearing awn to 3/5 inch long; fertile lemma rigid, somewhat flattened; tip firm, stiff, not separated from lemma body by line of hairs.

Habitat:

Moist, open, disturbed areas, cultivated fields, corrals, and waste sites.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Forage Value:

Barnyard grass has fair forage value when grazed early, but it is unpalatable at maturity.

Uses:

Birds will consume the seeds. Some Native American tribes used the seeds for food.

Comments:

Tufted or solitary-stemmed.

Barnyard grass