4.Ashwa waligaya

• 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.