Cynosurus echinatus
Encyclopedia
Cynosurus echinatus is a species of grass
known by the common names bristly dogtail grass and hedgehog dogtail. It is native to southern Europe, and it is known in the Americas and Australia as an introduced species
and sometimes a noxious weed. An herbicide-resistant
strain can be found growing as a weed in canola
and wheat
fields in Chile
. This is an annual grass growing 10 to 50 centimeters tall. The inflorescence
is a rounded or oval cluster or series of clusters of spikelets. The fertile spikelet has an awn up to a centimeter long. The awns clumped closely together into a tuft gives the inflorescence its bristly, hairy appearance.
Poaceae
The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...
known by the common names bristly dogtail grass and hedgehog dogtail. It is native to southern Europe, and it is known in the Americas and Australia as an introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
and sometimes a noxious weed. An herbicide-resistant
Pesticide resistance
Pesticide resistance is the adaptation of pest population targeted by a pesticide resulting in decreased susceptibility to that chemical. In other words, pests develop a resistance to a chemical through natural selection: the most resistant organisms are the ones to survive and pass on their...
strain can be found growing as a weed in canola
Canola
Canola refers to a cultivar of either Rapeseed or Field Mustard . Its seeds are used to produce edible oil suitable for consumption by humans and livestock. The oil is also suitable for use as biodiesel.Originally, Canola was bred naturally from rapeseed in Canada by Keith Downey and Baldur R...
and wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
fields in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. This is an annual grass growing 10 to 50 centimeters tall. The inflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a rounded or oval cluster or series of clusters of spikelets. The fertile spikelet has an awn up to a centimeter long. The awns clumped closely together into a tuft gives the inflorescence its bristly, hairy appearance.