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Ischaemum rugosum
Ischaemum rugosum, also known as saramollagrass, is a flowering plant belonging to the grass family Poaceae in the genus Ischaemum, and is native to tropical and temperate regions of Asia, growing in marshes and other wet habitats. It is a vigorous annual, and is an invasive species in South America and Madagascar. It reaches heights of up to 1 m and is primarily recognized by the ridged surface of its sessile spikelet's lower glume. Despite its historic importance as fodder in Asia, the grass has become a major weed in mid-latitude rice paddies throughout Asia and South America.
Ischaemum rugosum is a resilient annual that inhabits marshes and other wet habitats, growing in loose clumps to heights of 10–100 cm. The species is primarily recognized by the wrinkled texture of the sessile spikelet's lower glume, with 4–7 distinct horizontal ribs. The plant produces brown, ovoid grains 2 mm long.
The culms are wrapped by a papery, loose leaf sheath up to 16 cm long, with bulbous-based hairs at the node base and sheath margin. Sheaths are topped with a membranous ligule 6 mm deep. The linear leaf blades are 5–30 cm long and 3–15 mm wide, gradually tapering down at the base and sometimes resembling a petiole. Blades have a margin of stiff minute hairs, and may either be smooth or covered with thin hairs on the leaf surface.
The inflorescence may be terminal or axillary, and is composed of two racemes, tightly back to back, and typically 3–12 cm long. Spikelets on each raceme are in pairs; one spikelet is fertile and sessile, and the other is sterile and pedicelled.
Sessile spikelets are 4–6 mm long and contain two florets, one sterile and one fertile; the pair lack a rachilla extension between them. The awn of the upper lemma reaches up to 2 cm. Glumes are unalike; the lower glume is ovate with a ridged, convex surface, and the upper is thinner and boat-shaped.
The pedicelled spikelets may be highly reduced or well-developed, and are at least as long as the sessile spikelets, or shorter (2–6 mm long). The pedicel is typically 1 mm long and stout, and spikelet's lemmas are usually empty and awnless. The glumes are papery, and ovate to pointed with a blunt apex.
The genus Ischaemum L. takes its name from the Latin ischaemon (Greek ischo "to restrain" and haima "blood"), as recorded by Pliny the Elder to describe an herb used to stop bleeding. As circumscribed by Linnaeus, the genus contained some species whose seeds had been known to have styptic properties, and so the name was inherited. The specific epithet rugosum authored by Salisbury is derived from the Latin rugosus "wrinkled", and refers to the wrinkled lower glumes on the sessile spikelets.
The species grows in water, wet grasslands, moist river banks, and drainage ditches, and is important to grazing animals in the regions to which it is native. Its vigorous nature gives it a high invasive potential, and it is a well-known agricultural weed throughout the moist tropics. Within the optimum temperature range of germination from 20–30 °C, a 2015 study observed a 97.5% germination rate in lab conditions, which attests to its competitiveness as an invasive species. However, germination is restricted to sufficiently moist soil, and completely inhibited in darkness, which may inform future directions in weed management.
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Ischaemum rugosum AI simulator
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Ischaemum rugosum
Ischaemum rugosum, also known as saramollagrass, is a flowering plant belonging to the grass family Poaceae in the genus Ischaemum, and is native to tropical and temperate regions of Asia, growing in marshes and other wet habitats. It is a vigorous annual, and is an invasive species in South America and Madagascar. It reaches heights of up to 1 m and is primarily recognized by the ridged surface of its sessile spikelet's lower glume. Despite its historic importance as fodder in Asia, the grass has become a major weed in mid-latitude rice paddies throughout Asia and South America.
Ischaemum rugosum is a resilient annual that inhabits marshes and other wet habitats, growing in loose clumps to heights of 10–100 cm. The species is primarily recognized by the wrinkled texture of the sessile spikelet's lower glume, with 4–7 distinct horizontal ribs. The plant produces brown, ovoid grains 2 mm long.
The culms are wrapped by a papery, loose leaf sheath up to 16 cm long, with bulbous-based hairs at the node base and sheath margin. Sheaths are topped with a membranous ligule 6 mm deep. The linear leaf blades are 5–30 cm long and 3–15 mm wide, gradually tapering down at the base and sometimes resembling a petiole. Blades have a margin of stiff minute hairs, and may either be smooth or covered with thin hairs on the leaf surface.
The inflorescence may be terminal or axillary, and is composed of two racemes, tightly back to back, and typically 3–12 cm long. Spikelets on each raceme are in pairs; one spikelet is fertile and sessile, and the other is sterile and pedicelled.
Sessile spikelets are 4–6 mm long and contain two florets, one sterile and one fertile; the pair lack a rachilla extension between them. The awn of the upper lemma reaches up to 2 cm. Glumes are unalike; the lower glume is ovate with a ridged, convex surface, and the upper is thinner and boat-shaped.
The pedicelled spikelets may be highly reduced or well-developed, and are at least as long as the sessile spikelets, or shorter (2–6 mm long). The pedicel is typically 1 mm long and stout, and spikelet's lemmas are usually empty and awnless. The glumes are papery, and ovate to pointed with a blunt apex.
The genus Ischaemum L. takes its name from the Latin ischaemon (Greek ischo "to restrain" and haima "blood"), as recorded by Pliny the Elder to describe an herb used to stop bleeding. As circumscribed by Linnaeus, the genus contained some species whose seeds had been known to have styptic properties, and so the name was inherited. The specific epithet rugosum authored by Salisbury is derived from the Latin rugosus "wrinkled", and refers to the wrinkled lower glumes on the sessile spikelets.
The species grows in water, wet grasslands, moist river banks, and drainage ditches, and is important to grazing animals in the regions to which it is native. Its vigorous nature gives it a high invasive potential, and it is a well-known agricultural weed throughout the moist tropics. Within the optimum temperature range of germination from 20–30 °C, a 2015 study observed a 97.5% germination rate in lab conditions, which attests to its competitiveness as an invasive species. However, germination is restricted to sufficiently moist soil, and completely inhibited in darkness, which may inform future directions in weed management.