Chinese name: Qianjinzi

English name: Asian?sprangletop

Latin name: Leptochloa?chinensis?(L.)?Nees

Weed family: Gramineae

Introduction: alias: embroidery grass, shore grass.

Annual, 30-90 cm tall. Culms tufted, erect distally, base geniculate, with 3-6 nodes, smooth and glabrous. Leaf sheaths mostly shorter than internodes, glabrous; ligules membranous, much lacerate, ciliolate; leaf blades lanceolate, glabrous, often rolled. Inflorescence paniculate, long branched, composed of numerous spike-like racemes; spikelets containing 3-7 flowers, inserted in 2 rows on one side of rachis, often purplish; glumes 1-veined, 2nd glume slightly shorter than 1st lemma; lemmas 3-veined, glabrous or proximally hirsute. Caryopsis oblong. Seedlings light green; 1st leaf 2-2.5 mm, elliptic, with conspicuous veins, 2nd leaf 5-6 mm;

7-8 leaves appearing as tillers and stolons and adventitious roots.

Seed Propagation. Seed germination, needing sufficient water, but can not germinate under prolonged flooding conditions; need higher temperatures, so it occurs late. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, seedlings emerge in May-early June, with a peak in mid- to late June; flowering, fruiting and maturation occur successively in August-November. Subsequently, the glumes fall off from the rachis, either directly into the soil, or spread by water flow or wind, or mixed in the harvest to spread. Seeds germinate after overwintering dormancy. Thousands of seeds are strong tillers and grow faster in mid to late season, often standing head and shoulders above the rice by the time it spikes.

Mostly distributed in East China, Central China, South China, Southwest China and Shaanxi and other places. Born in paddy fields, low-wet dry fields and the edge of the ground. Harming rice, beans, cotton and other crops.