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Glite Dictionary
Echinochloa crusgalli

Echinochloa crusgalli

9.9
A coarse grass that grows each year as a common weed worldwide and is sometimes used for animal feed
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Echinochloa crusgalli
  • Echinochloa crusgalli is a major weed in rice fields due to its rapid growth and high seed production.

Examples

  • Farmers sometimes use Echinochloa crusgalli as an emergency fodder when other grasses are scarce.

  • The seeds of Echinochloa crusgalli can contaminate harvested grain, making weed control essential.

  • Farmers often struggle with Echinochloa crusgalli in their fields.

  • In many regions, Echinochloa crusgalli is considered a nuisance weed.

  • Echinochloa crusgalli is often used as fodder for livestock when other food sources are limited.

  • Farmers need to control Echinochloa crusgalli as it competes aggressively with crops in fields.

  • Due to its resilience, Echinochloa crusgalli commonly grows in wet and disturbed areas worldwide.

Synonyms

barnyard grass
vsEchinochloa crusgalli
  • Specialized
7.5

A common wild grass that grows in wet farm fields and that animals sometimes eat

is the scientific name referring to that same common weed
barn grass
vsEchinochloa crusgalli
8.3

A common weed grass that farmers sometimes cut for hay or feed animals

is the botanical name used for that same coarse weed

Surface Forms

Echinochloa crusgalli singular
Echinochloa crusgalli plural

Morphology

Echinochloa + crusgalli

The genus 'Echinochloa' indicates a grass, so a learner who knows that constituent could infer this is a type of plant; however the species epithet 'crusgalli' is not interpretable and the specific senses (barnyard grass, common weed, used for hay/grazing) are specialized. Scientific Latin names are cross-linguistically recognizable as taxonomic labels, giving a general category but not the precise, everyday meaning, so the transparency is partial.

Etymology

Echinochloa crusgalli is a scientific name made from old words meaning 'spiky grass' and 'rooster's leg' because its rough, spiky flower heads look like a small hedgehog or a bird's foot. That's why the name fits this common coarse grass that grows in barnyards and fields and is often a weed or used for animal feed.