Latin name

Brachiaria mutica (Forssk.) Stapf

Family

Poaceae

Common name(s)

Buffalo grass, para grass, Mauritius grass

Synonym(s)

Brachiaria purpurascens (Raddi) Henr., Paspalum muticum Forssk. (basionym), P. numidianum Lam., P. barbinode Trin., P. purpurascens Raddi, Urochloa mutica (Forssk.) T. Q. Nguyen

Geographical distribution

South and Southeast Asia: Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Rest of the world: Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, Ghana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad, United States (including Hawaii), and Venezuela.

Morphology

A coarse perennial grass, erect or scrambling from a creeping base, up to 200—cm—tall.

Stem: culm ascending, stout, with densely bearded nodes, with horizontal runners trailing on the ground to form dense mass.

Leaf: alternate, linear to lanceolate, 10—30—cm—long; blades and sheaths covered with dense hairs.

Inflorescence: a terminal green to purplish panicle of racemes, 15—30—cm—long, with 8—20 spike-like racemes, 2—8—cm—long; spikelets paired 3—5—mm—long, along one side of the branch, each pair with a distinct stalk.

Biology and ecology

Flowers year-round; propagated by seed or runners.

Prefers well-drained soil, rice field bunds, and irrigation canals; also wetland rice, plantation crops, and vegetables.

Agricultural importance

It is also an alternate host of diseases such as Cassytha filliformis L. and Helminthosporium spp. and insect pests such as Nephotettix virescens (Distant), N. nigropictus (Stål), and Nymphula depunctalis (Guenee).

Management

Cultural control: dry tillage and puddling can be effective measures.

Chemical control: in heavily infested areas, preplant applications of glyphosate, glufosinate ammonium, or paraquat can be used.

Selected references

Halfliger E, Schloz H. 1980. Grass weeds 1. Ciba (Switzerland): Geigy Ltd. Basle. 142 p.

Holm LG, Plucknett DL, Pancho, JV, Herberger JP. 1977. The world's worst weeds: distribution and biology. Honolulu, Hawaii (USA): The University Press of Hawaii. 609 p.

Moody K. 1989. Weeds reported in rice in South and Southeast Asia. Manila (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. 442 p.

Moody K, Munroe CE, Lubigan RT, Paller Jr. EC. 1984. Major weeds of the Philippines. Weed Science Society of the Philippines. Laguna (Philippines): University of the Philippines at Los Baños. 328 p.

Pancho JV, Obien SR. 1995. Manual of ricefield weeds in the Philippines. Muñoz, Nueva Ecija (Philippines): Philippine Rice Research Institute. 543 p.

Soerjani M, Kostermans AJGH, Tjitrosoepomo G. 1987. Weeds of rice in Indonesia. Jakarta (Indonesia): Balai Pustaka. 716 p.

Contributors

JLA Catindig, RT Lubigan, and DE Johnson