![Print Fact Sheet](fs_images/print.png)
Panicum repens L.
Poaceae
Torpedo grass
Panicum gouinii E. Fourn., P. littorale Mohr. ex Vasey, P. convolutum P. Beauv. ex Spreng., P. arenarium Brot.
Asia: China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan).
South and Southeast Asia: Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Rest of the world: Arabian Peninsula, Argentina, Australia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Iraq, Israel, Morocco, Portugal, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Sudan, United States, and West Africa.
A strong perennial grass, ascending, somewhat wiry, 40—100—cm—tall .
Stem: erect or reclining, rooting at base; deep rhizomes, white with irregularly thickened parts, branching with new culms arising.
Leaf: linear and lance-shaped, up to 25—cm—long, stiff and ascending; short ligule, membranous, up to 0.5—mm—long.
Inflorescence: open panicle, 7—18—cm—long, smooth and with ascending branches; spikelets oblong-ovate, 3—mm—long.
Panicum repens thrives in wet open grasslands and field margins, and in drains of lowland rice fields; able to withstand temporary flooding. Propagates by seeds and by division of its roots and rhizomes.
Cultural control: repeated cutting or by deep plowing to cut the rhizomes and bury them to 30 cm.
Chemical control: Glyphosate.
Chandrasena JPNR. 1990. Torpedograss (Panicum repens L.) control with lower rates of glyphosate. Trop. Pest Manage. 36(4):336-342.Chandrasena JPNR, Dhammika WHY. 1988. Studies on the biology of Panicum repens L.: comparative morphological development of three selections from different geographical localities in Sri Lanka. Trop. Pest. Manage. 34(3):291-297.Holm L, Pancho JV, Herberger JP, Plucknett DL. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. New York (USA): John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 391 p.Hossain MA, Ishimine Y, Murayama S, Uddin SMM, Kuniyoshi K. 1999. Effect of burial depth on emergence of Panicum repens. Weed Sci. 47:651-656.Manipura WB, Somaratne A. 1974. Some effects of manual and chemical defoliation on the growth and carbohydrate reserves of Panicum repens (L.) Beauv. Weed Res. 14:167-172.Moody K. 1989. Weeds reported in rice in South and Southeast Asia. Manila (Philippines): International Rice Reseach Institute. 442 p.Moody K. 1992. Weeds of cropped areas in the Philippines. Philipp. J. Weed Sci. 19:31-78.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.
JLA Catindig, RT Lubigan, and DE Johnson