Echinochloa colona

Echinochloa colona is an annual herb with stems rising prostrate up to 1 m long.

The culms of Echinochloa colona are erect or ascending. 
They are growing between 40 to 90 cm tall. 
The nodes are glabrous. 

The leaves of Echinochloa colona are lanceolate in shape. 
They are 4 to 30 cm long and 0.4 to 0.8 cm wide. 
The leaves are glabrous and there is no ligule. 
The sheaths are occasionally marked with purple bars. 

The inflorescences of Echinochloa colona are growing in linear racemes. They are up to 10 cm long. 
The racemes are 1.5 to 2 cm long, they are appressed from the rachis to half of their length. 
The spikelets are ovoid-ellipsoid in shape. They occur in pairs, or clustered at each node. 
The spikelets are up to 2 mm. 
The glumes have 5 nerves and they are unequal. 
The lower glume is broadly ovate, 1 mm and densely hispidulous. 
The upper glume is ovate, 2 mm. 
The lower lemma is up to 0.2 cm, acute to cuspidate. 
The upper lemma is crustaceous, up to 2 mm.

The fruit of Echinochloa colona is a caryopis.

The fruit of Echinochloa colona is a caryopis.

In India the seeds of Echinochloa colonum are used to prepare a food dish called khichadi, and are consumed during festival fasting days. 
It is also used as a fodder grass for livestock. 

Ecology :

Echinochloa colonum is growing from the coastal plains to the hills. 
It is found in wet fields and disturbed areas.

Distribution :