• Common Name : Asian sprangletop / Ashwa waligaya
• Scientific Name : Leptochloa chinensis
• Family : Poaceae
• Life cycle : Annual
• Morphological characters :
• Roots – fibrous,
• Culms – erect and 10-150 cm tall, glabrous, not hairy, round, erect, hollow, non-succulent. commonly reclining at base and rooting at nodes.
• Leaf sheaths – loose, 4-10 cm long, with a membranous ligules
• leaf blades – linear, acute, flat, 6-30 cm – 4-9 mm, roughish. sessile, simple, narrow, alternate, evenly distributed on stem, margin entire, parallel-veined, midrib not-prominent, surface not-waxy, non-succulent
• Inflorescence – a terminal panicle of many slender branches arising from a narrow main axis, pale green or reddish in color, 20-60 cm long.
• Flowers – bisexual, clustered, purple. Bracts present, not hairy.
• Fruits – a nut or nut-like.
• Propagation : By seeds
• Agricultural importance : Very importance in upland rice, Compete for light, moisture, space, nutrients. Reduce the yield qualitatively and quantitatively.
• Uses : Forage for animals
• Control measures : Manual and mechanical weeding Chemical control – Roundup or Gramoxon.