• Latin name
• Family
• Common name(s)
• Synonym(s)
• Geographical distribution
• Morphology
• Biology and ecology
• Agricultural importance
• Management
• Selected references
• Contributors

Fimbristylis dichotoma

Fimbristylis dichotoma is a tufted herb with compound or simple umbel inflorescence (IRRI).

Latin name

Fimbristylis dichotoma (L.) Vahl

Family

Cyperacea

Common name(s)

Tall fringe rush, lesser fimbristylis, and two-leaf fimbristylis

Synonym(s)

Scirpus dichotomus L. (basionym), F. bisumbellata (Forssk.) Bubani (accepted), F. annua (All.) Rohm. & Schult., F. polymorpha Boek., S. annuus All., F. diphylla (Retz.) Vahl, S. diphyllus Retz.

Geographical distribution

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

Rest of the world: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Honduras, Italy, Madagascar, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Tanzania, Uganda, United States (Southeastern, South-central), former USSR, Venezuela, and Zambia.

Morphology

Annual or perennial, very variable in habit and size of inflorescence, up to 70—cm—high with short rhizome.

Stem: tufted, slender and angular; reaches a height of 10—75—cm; smooth, slightly hairy or glabrous and compressed below the inflorescence.

Leaf: well developed and about one-half the length of the stem; smooth or more or less hairy; linear to filiform; blades 10—30—cm—long and 0.5—3—mm—wide; ligule a dense fringe of short hairs.

Inflorescence: compound or simple umbel, 3—15—mm—long, composed of loose or dense, few to numerous spikelets; reddish to brownish and ovoid to oblong-ovoid.

Fruit: oblong-ovoid to obovate nut, about 1—mm; 5—10 longitudinal ribs with numerous cross-bars; glossy white to straw-colored, rarely brown.

Biology and ecology

Reproduces by seeds; flowers year-round; a single plant can produce up to 6,500 seeds.

Common in upland areas; also found in rainfed paddy fields, cultivated fields, lawns, and wetland pastures.

Agricultural importance

Not known. 

Management

Cultural control: handweeding or hoeing at seedling stage.

Chemical control: MCPA or 2,4-D at 20 to 30 days after rice emergence.

Selected references

Galinato MI, Moody K, Piggin. CM. 1999. Upland rice weeds of South and Southeast Asia. Manila (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. 156 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.

Kern JH. 1974. Cyperaceae. Flora Malesiana Ser. 1 7(3): 435-753.

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

Pancho JV. 1964. Seed sizes and production capacities of common weed species in rice fields of the Philippines. Philipp. Agric. 48:307-316.

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