Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Rottboellia cochinchinensis
FAMILY
Poaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Itch-grass may grow 2-5 or more feet tall and so stands above crops. The stems produce distinctive prop-roots from the lower nodes. The inflorescences are axillary and terminal, and look like narrow stacks of little cylinders one atop another. Learn more atVascular Plants of North Carolina.
This grass, considered a noxious weed, was found in at least 13 GA counties by 1985, on a farm in Robeson County, NC, in 1984, in cornfields in Westmoreland County, VA, in 2007, and in Berkeley County, SC, in 2013, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rottboellia cochinchinensis
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Rottboellia cochinchinensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 25 (2003)
Rottboellia cochinchinensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
Rottboellia exaltata
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Manisuris exaltata
COMMON NAME:
Itch-grass
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Keith Bradley kab_rottbo~1
May Miami-Dade County FL
Sheaths papillose-hispid [having stiff hairs on swollen nipple-like bases], per Manual of the Grasses of the United States (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950).
)
USDA APHIS PPQ Archive, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org bug_1149131
Month Unknown
Leaf blades flat, in robust specimens to 3cm wide, per Manual of the Grasses of the United States (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950).
)
Julia Scher, Federal Noxious Weeds Disseminules, USDA APHIS ITP, Bugwood.org bug_5376739
Month Unknown
Spikelets awnless, in pairs at the nodes of a thickened articulate rachis, per Manual of the Grasses of the United States (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950).
)
Julia Scher, Federal Noxious Weeds Disseminules, USDA APHIS ITP, Bugwood.org bug_5376740
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Rottboellia cochinchinensis
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rottboellia cochinchinensis
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Rottboellia cochinchinensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 25
Rottboellia cochinchinensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
Rottboellia exaltata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Manisuris exaltata
2947
Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Annual
Habitat: Disturbed ground, pine rocklands, pine savannas, fruit groves, per Weakley's Flora
Non-native: tropical southeast Asia
Uncommon in GA, rare in Carolinas
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
This plant is causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:
- Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2006
- SC Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2014
- SC List of Regulated Pest Plant Species, 2017
- Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2009
- USDA Federal Noxious Weeds, 091820
LEAVES:
Simple
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Grain
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".