STINKGRASS, strong-scented lovegrass

Illustration

STINKGRASS-Eragrostis cilianensis (All.) Link

DESCRIPTION-Stinkgrass is an annual, branching from the base, l/3 to 2 feet long, which reproduces only by seed. The stems are often prostrate then ascending, with minute glandular pits in a ring below the joints. These pits may also be scattered on the leaves, flower stalks, and the margins of the flowering bracts, supposedly giving off a cockroachlike odor that is offensive to livestock. The flowering part of the plant is 2 to 10 inches long, and widely spreading. The spikelets are densely crowded, 1/4 to 3/4 inches long, with 12 to 40 flowers or florets. The reddish brown oval grains are about 1/16 inch long, and pointed at both ends.

DISTRIBUTION-A very common weed from early summer through fall in cultivated crops such as sorghum, cotton, citrus, and alfalfa; also in gardens, roadsides and waste places, or in heavy soiled drainage lands throughout most of the state except the northeast part; from 100 to 6,000 feet elevation; flowering from May to October. Seeds of this European weed often occur as an impurity in small commercial seeds.

POISONOUS PROPERTIES-Horses are reported to have been poisoned by eating large quantities of the fresh or dried plant over a period of time, but none in Arizona.

Copyright (c) 1972 The Arizona Board of Regents