''Echinochloa'' is a very widespread

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of plants in the

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

and tribe

Paniceae Paniceae is a large tribe (biology), tribe of the subfamily Panicoideae in the grasses (Poaceae), the only in the monotypic taxon, monotypic supertribe Panicodae. It includes roughly 1,500 species in 84 genera, primarily found in tropical and sub ...

. Some of the species are known by the common names barnyard grass or cockspur grass. Some of the species within this genus are

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

s that are grown as

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

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 ...

crops. The most notable of these are Japanese millet (''E. esculenta'') in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

, Indian barnyard millet (''E. frumentacea'') in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, and burgu millet (''E. stagnina'') in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. Collectively, the members of this genus are called barnyard grasses (though this may also refer to '' E. crus-galli'' specifically), and are also known as barnyard millets or billion-dollar grasses. When not grown on purpose, these grasses may become a nuisance to farmers. In particular, common barnyard grass (''E. crus-galli'') is notorious as a weed. It is not easily suppressed with living mulches such as velvet bean (''Mucuna pruriens'' var. ''utilis''). Early barnyard grass (''E. oryzoides'') is a well-known example of

Vavilovian mimicry In plant biology and agriculture, Vavilovian mimicry (also crop mimicry or weed mimicry) is a form of mimicry in plants where a weed evolves to share characteristics with a crop plant through generations of involuntary artificial selection. It ...

: the plants have

evolved Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

to resemble

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

(''Oryza''), enabling them to escape

weeding Weed control is a type of pest control, which attempts to stop or reduce growth of weeds, especially noxious weeds, with the aim of reducing their competition with desired flora and fauna including domesticated plants and livestock, and in nat ...

more easily. Among the

plant pathogen Plant diseases are diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, viruses, viroids, virus-like orga ...

s that affect this genus are the

sac fungus Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The def ...

Cochliobolus sativus The fungus ''Cochliobolus sativus'' is the teleomorph (sexual stage) of ''Bipolaris sorokiniana'' (anamorph) which is the causal agent of a wide variety of cereal diseases. The Plant pathology, pathogen can infect and cause disease on roots (wher ...

'', which has been noted on common barnyard grass, and rice hoja blanca virus. Both affect many other grass species, in particular most important cereals, and ''Echinochloa'' weeds may serve as a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

. The fungi '' Drechslera monoceras'' and '' Exserohilum monoceras'' have been evaluated with some success as potential

biocontrol Biological control or biocontrol is a method of pest control, controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or phytopathology, plants by bioeffector, using other organisms. It relies o ...

agents of common barnyard grass in rice fields. More research is necessary, however, because they may not be host-specific enough to be of practical use. Insect pests include '' Atherigona falcata'', the barnyard millet shoot fly.

Species

; SpeciesGould, F. W., M. A. Ali & D. E. Fairbrothers. 1972. A revision of ''Echinochloa'' in the United States. American Midland Naturalist 87(1): 36–59 ; Formerly included see '' Acroceras'', '' Axonopus'', '' Brachiaria'', '' Oplismenopsis'', '' Oplismenus'', ''

Panicum ''Panicum'' (panicgrass) is a large genus of about 250 species of Poaceae, grasses native throughout the tropical regions of the world, with a few species extending into the northern temperate zone. They are often large, Annual plant, annual or P ...

'', '' Pseudechinolaena'', '' Setaria'', ''

Urochloa ''Urochloa'', commonly known as signalgrass,''Urochloa''.
USDA PLANTS. is a genus of plants in t ...

References

External links

Plants for a Future: ''E. crus-galli''.

* ttp://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/millet.html ''Alternative Field Crops Manual'': Millets. {{Authority control Millets Grasses of Asia Grasses of North America Grasses of South America Poaceae genera Taxa named by Palisot de Beauvois