Quick Facts

Quick facts

• Red Sprangletop (Leptochloa chinensis) is an aquatic or semi-aquatic tufted annual or perennial.
• It is not yet naturalised in Australia.
• In other countries, it is a weed of rice, sugarcane, vegetables, cotton and corn.
• It is able to establish and grow profusely in waterlogged conditions before crops can take hold.
• It has shown the ability to become resistant to herbicide used to control it in Thailand.

What Does It Look Like?

What is it?

Red Sprangletop (Leptochloa chinensis) is an aquatic or semi-aquatic tufted annual or perennial, with upright or bent stems up to 1.5 m tall which often root at the lower nodes (leaf junctions) and rhizomes (horizontal stems below the soil surface). The leaf sheath is loose and smooth, up to 10 cm long. The ligule (found where the leaf-blade meets the stem) is 1–2 mm long, membranous and fringed with small hairs. The leaf-blade is linear, up to 50 cm long and 1 cm wide, and flat or folded.

The inflorescence (flower head) is a narrow branched cluster 10–60 cm long. The groups of 3–7 flowers are unstalked and green to reddish.

The seed is 6–9 mm long, brown and smooth or wrinkled (Mannetji 2007).

For further information and assistance with identification of Red Sprangletop contact the herbarium in your state or territory.

Flower colour

Red, Green

Growth form (weed type/habit)

Grass, Aquatic

Where it currently grows? Preferred habitat

Red Sprangletop grows at elevations up to 1400 m. It grows in wet, swampy or marshy sites, streams, ditches, grasslands or drains, on heavy or light soils (Galinato et al. 1999; Mannetji 2007).

Are there similar species?

Red Sprangletop can be distinguished from the similar Leptochloa panicea by its lack of scattered, long, fine tubercle-based hairs, and larger number (3–7) of florets (flowers) per spikelet (group of flowers) (Waterhouse & Mitchell 1998).

Why Is It A Weed?

What are its impacts?

Agriculture: Red Sprangletop is able to establish and grow profusely in waterlogged conditions before crops can take hold, and therefore it can suppress the growth of the crop. It is a weed of rice, sugarcane, vegetables, cotton and corn (Waterhouse & Mitchell 1998). It is a serious grass weed in seeded rice cropping systems in Thailand (Manneechote et al. 2005).and is also becoming a serious threat to production in all rice ecosystems in Sri Lanka (Anuruddhka et al. 2005).

How does it spread?

Red Sprangletop is dispersed by seed with the help of animals or water, or by rhizomes (horizontal roots just under the soil surface) (PIER 2008; Scher undated). It can also reproduce by division of clumps or rootstock following tillage or incomplete weeding (Galinato et al. 1999).

What is its history in Australia?

Red Sprangletop is not yet naturalised in Australia.

How To Manage It?

Best practice management

Non-chemical control: Seed hygiene is an important control method, as the seed of Red Sprangletop can be a contaminant of rice seed (Galinato et al. 1999). It has been found that by increasing the paddy water layer in sown rice to 8-10 cm, seedling emergence in Red Sprangletop could be prevented (Benvenuti et al. 2004).

Chemical control: Herbicides can be spot applied to grass weeds infesting rice crops, however Red Sprangletop has shown resistance to some herbicides in rice fields in Thailand (Manneechote et al. 2005).

Please see the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority for chemical information http://www.apvma.gov.au

Does it have a biological control agent?

NO

When does it grow? (lifecycle/growth calendar)

Red Sprangletop is an annual (a plant that completes its life-cycle and dies within 1 year) or perennial (lives for more than 2 years). Soil moisture is the main factor affecting its growth. Seedlings can develop quickly to keep pace with rising water levels (Mannetji 2007). Red Sprangletop is characterised by very small, non-dormant seeds which can germinate in oxygen-depleted conditions (Kennedy et al. 1992). Seed germination is strongly influenced by temperature, requiring a minimum of 15 °C, but optimally 25–35 °C. Seeds also requires light to germinate, with seed burial reducing germination by 95% (Benvenuti et al. 2004).

Where Is It Found?

Which states and territories is it found?

Not found in any Australian state or territory.

What areas within states and territories is it found?

Red Sprangletop is not yet naturalised in Australia.

Where does it originate?

Red Sprangletop originated in tropical Asia. It is now distributed throughout South-East Asia, Burma, Sri Lanka, India, China, Japan, Europe and Africa (Mannetji 2007).

National And State Weed Listings

Is it a Weed of National Significance (WONS)?

NO

Where is it a declared weed?

NT

Government weed strategies and lists – Weeds Australia

Is it on the National Alert List for Environmental Weeds?

NO

Government weed strategies and lists – Weeds Australia

Is it on the Agricultural Sleeper List?

NO

Government weed strategies and lists – Weeds Australia

Names And Taxonomy

Main scientific name

Leptochloa chinensis

Other scientific names (synonyms)?

Does it have other known common name(s)?

Feathergrass, Asian sprangletop