''Leptochloa chinensis'', commonly known as red sprangletop, Asian sprangletop, or Chinese sprangletop, is a species of grass in the family

Poaceae 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 a serious weed of rice. It is native to regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Places it is found include

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, South Korea, Southeast Asia,

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 ...

, Papua New Guinea,

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

, West Africa,

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and Samoa. It is known to be a pasture grass and is a livestock grazing feed grass specialty, but in some cases it is a common rice weed. The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia’ records that it is "an excellent pasture grass, much relished by stock ; it has tender panicles, and grows from two to three feet high. It is not endemic in Australia but is found in New South Wales and Queensland"

Gallery

File:千金子 Leptochloa chinensis 20190509105938 01.jpg File:千金子 Leptochloa chinensis 20190509105938 02.jpg

References

Chloridoideae Grasses of Africa Grasses of Asia Flora of tropical Asia Flora of Fiji Flora of Japan Flora of Samoa Flora of South Korea Flora of Swaziland Poales of Australia {{Chloridoideae-stub