''Bothriochloa pertusa'' is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

. It is widely used as a

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...

and a graze for

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

. Common names for the plant include hurricane grass, Indian couch grass, Indian-bluegrass, pitted bluestem, Seymour grass, Barbados sourgrass,''Bothriochloa pertusa'' (L.) A. Camus.
In: Duke, J. A. ''Handbook of Energy Crops''. 1983. Unpublished. Center for New Crops & Plant Products. Purdue University. Antigua hay, pitted beardgrass,''Bothriochloa pertusa''.
Global Invasive Species Database, Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG), IUCN Species Survival Commission. sweet pitted grass, silver grass (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

),Cook, B. G., et al
''Bothriochloa pertusa''.
Tropical Forages. CSIRO, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (Queensland), CIAT and ILRI, Brisbane, Australia. 2005. ''comagueyana'', ''yerba huracán'' (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

), ''suket putihan'', ''salay'' (

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

), ''ya-hom'', ''ya-hangma'' (

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

), ''huyêt tha'o lô'' (

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

), and ''kong ying cao'' (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

).''Bothriochloa pertusa''.
Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER). The native range of the grass is probably in Asia, including

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its type locality was in India.''Bothriochloa pertusa''.
Flora of Pakistan. It is now widespread outside its native range, having been purposely introduced to many regions, such as

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the Americas, the Pacific, and Africa. It is most common in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

areas.

Description

Bothriochloa pertusa at Peradeniya Royal Botanical Garden

This is a perennial grass that spreads via

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

s. The stolons may be pink or red. They can be robust; stolons measuring 1.6 meters have been observed. The stems are upright to erect and reach 60 to 100''Bothriochloa pertusa'' (L.) A. Camus.
Grass Manual. Flora of North America. centimeters tall. At times they may extend along the ground for a distance, rooting where stem nodes contact the soil. The leaves are up to 30 centimeters long; the upper leaves longer than the lower. The leaves are green to gray-green. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a bunch of very hairy

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s each a few centimeters long. Parts of the inflorescence can be purplish in color. The spikelet has a twisted

awn AWN may stand for: * Awn Access to Justice Network in Gaza Strip, Legal Aid Network operate in Gaza Strip, Palestine * Animation World Network, an online organization for animators * Avant Window Navigator, a dock-like bar that tracks open windows ...

up to 2 centimeters long. The grass is aromatic, with a scent like

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

when it is crushed.''Bothriochloa pertusa''.
NQ Weeds. James Cook University.

Habitat

In general, it requires tropical climates, and it does not tolerate frost. It is able to grow in many types of soils. It withstands

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

and disturbance, and it can sprout up in dry, degraded habitat, such as roadsides. It survives short-term waterlogging and fire.

Human uses

This grass is used as a

lawn A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. L ...

, as it can form a dense mat. It is occasionally seeded in

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal o ...

projects, along roadsides and in degraded fields, for example. It is planted for

erosion control Erosion control is the practice of preventing or controlling wind or water erosion in agriculture, land development, coastal areas, river banks and construction. Effective erosion controls handle surface runoff and are important techniques in ...

and

mine reclamation Mine reclamation is the process of modifying land that has been mined to ecologically functional or economically usable state. Although the process of mine reclamation occurs once mining is completed, the planning of mine reclamation activiti ...

. It has been used in

no-till No-till farming (also known as zero tillage or direct drilling) is an agricultural technique for growing crops or pasture without disturbing the soil through tillage. No-till farming decreases the amount of soil erosion tillage causes in certai ...

systems, in which it is grown in a vegetable field, then killed off to provide ready

mulch A mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving fertility and health of the soil, reducing weed growth and enhancing the visual appeal of the area. A m ...

for the vegetable crop. The grass is well known as a fodder for livestock. It is planted as a

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

grass and used for

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...

and

silage Silage () is a type of fodder made from green foliage crops which have been preserved by fermentation to the point of acidification. It can be fed to cattle, sheep and other such ruminants (cud-chewing animals). The fermentation and storage p ...

.''Bothriochloa pertusa'' (L.) A. Camus.
Grassland Species Profiles. FAO. It tolerates trampling, grazing, and cutting. In heavily grazed fields it is favored, becoming dominant as other grasses are eliminated by

grazing pressure Grazing pressure is defined as the number of grazing animals of a specified class (age, species, physiological status like pregnant) per unit weight of herbage (herbage biomass). It is well established in general usage. Definition Grazing pre ...

Palatability Palatability (or palatableness) is the hedonic reward (i.e., pleasure) provided by foods or fluids that are agreeable to the "palate", which often varies relative to the homeostatic satisfaction of nutritional, water, or energy needs. The palatabil ...

is reduced when the grass flowers.

Cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s include 'Ghana Marvel 20', a high yield type developed in India, and the rust-resistant 'Dawson', 'Keppel', and 'Medway' from

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It is sometimes planted with companions such as the grasses ''

Cenchrus ciliaris ''Cenchrus ciliaris'' (buffel-grass or African foxtail grass; syn. ''Pennisetum ciliare'' (L.) Link) is a species of grass native to most of Africa, southern Asia (east to India), southern Iran, and the extreme south of Europe (Sicily). Other na ...

'', ''

Urochloa mosambicensis ''Urochloa'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, native to Eurasia, Africa, Australia, Mexico, and the Pacific Islands.

'', and ''

Digitaria didactyla ''Digitaria didactyla'' is a species of grass known by the common names blue couch, Queensland blue couch, blue serangoon grass, green serangoon grass, blue stargrass, and ''petit gazon'' (in Mauritius).Cook, B. G., et al''Digitaria didactyla''.T ...

'', and

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

s such as '' Centrosema pascuorum'', '' Chamaecrista rotundifolia'', and '' Lotononis bainesii''.

Ecology

A widely introduced species, it has become

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

in many regions, and at times has become a

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...

. It has been especially difficult to control in the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...

. Its vigorous stoloniferous growth helps it outcompete native plants. It produces choking mats and shades out other species. The hairy seeds can be spread when they stick to animals. This grass is host to many

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

, such as ''

Balansia sclerotica ''Balansia'' is a genus of fungi in the family Clavicipitaceae. Species from this genus have been found to produce an ergopeptine Ergoline is a chemical compound whose structural skeleton is contained in a variety of alkaloids, referred to as ...

'', ''

Claviceps purpurea ''Claviceps purpurea'' is an ergot fungus that grows on the ears of rye and related cereal and forage plants. Consumption of grains or seeds contaminated with the survival structure of this fungus, the ergot sclerotium, can cause ergotism in h ...

'', '' Physoderma bothriochloae'', '' Puccinia cesatii'', '' P. duthiae'', '' Sphacelotheca tenuis'', '' Stollia bothriochloae'', and '' Uromyces andropogonis-annulati''. Some fungi are pathogenic, causing

rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH ...

and

ergot Ergot ( ) or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus ''Claviceps''. The most prominent member of this group is ''Claviceps purpurea'' ("rye ergot fungus"). This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that ca ...

. In

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

this grass is food for the Javan rusa (''Rusa timorensis russa''). It became invasive in this zone.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10944544 pertusa Flora of the Western Indian Ocean Grasses of China Flora of tropical Asia Flora of the Pacific Forages