U. platyphylla is an annual grass. Culms 25-100 cm, decumbent, rooting at the lower nodes;nodes glabrous. Sheaths glabrous or sparsely pilose;ligules 0.5-1 mm;blades 2.5-17.5 cm long, 3-13 mm wide, glabrous or sparsely pilose, bases subcordate, not clasping the stems, margins ciliate basally, with papillose-based hairs. Panicles 6-16 cm long, 2-2.5 cm wide, with 2-8 spike-like primary branches in 2 ranks;primary branches 3-8 cm, axils pubescent, axes 1.3-2.5 mm wide, flat, usually glabrous, occasionally pilose dorsally;secondary branches rarely present;pedicels shorter than the spikelets, scabrous and sparsely pilose. Spikelets 3.8-5 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, ovoid, bi-convex;solitary, appressed to the branches, in 2 rows. Glumes scarcely separated;lower glumes 1.2-1.8 mm, to 1/3 as long as the spikelets, obtuse, glabrous, 5(-7)-veined, not clasping the base of the spikelets;upper glumes 3.2-4.7 mm, glabrous, 7(-9)-veined;lower florets sterile;lower lemmas 3.2-4.7 mm, glabrous, 5-veined;lower paleas present;upper lemmas 2.8-3.4 mm long, 1.8-2.3 mm wide, apices incurved, broadly acute to rounded, mucronulate;anthers about 1 mm. Caryopses 1.5-2.2 mm (Wipff and Thompson, 2003).
Related invasive species
- Urochloa platyphylla
Related Farm Practice
- Plantations
- Rooting
- Hosts
U. platyphylla is a weedy grass species commonly found in disturbed, open and sandy sites such as crop fields, ditches and roadsides. It is considered a troublesome weed because of its tolerance to some herbicides principally in maize plantations (Chamblee et al., 1982;Gallaher et al.,1999). U. platyphylla is highly adaptable and it is able to germinate and grow throughout a wide range of soil and environmental conditions (Burke et al., 2003). Additionally, its seeds may remain on the crop residue until pre-emergence herbicides are no longer effective in controlling the germinating seeds, at which time the seeds fall to the soil surface and germinate (Alford et al., 2005).
U. platyphylla grows as a weed in maize, groundnuts, rice, soyabean and citrus plantations where it has been documented to reduce yield (Futch and Hall, 2004;Alford et al., 2005;Sesto et al., 2011).