Echinochloa crus-galli Cockspur

An annual grass of disturbed waste ground, pavements and roadsides with rather wide leaves that have rough edges and large, dense, branched, one-sided inflorescences composed of one-flowered, purple spikelets. It is a native of warm sub-tropical regions of Europe, Asia and North America which has been introduced widely as a fodder grass. Its seeds are also found in birdseed mixtures which has probably been its main dispersal source into Britain. Although relatively common and widespread in southern Britain it is less common in Wales where it is found mostly in coastal areas. It has a scattered, mostly lowland distribution in West Glamorgan and it rarely persists for long in sites where it has been recorded. Like many subtropical neophyte grasses in Britain it exhibits C4 photosynthesis (see account of Bermuda Grass, Cynodon dactylon) and is most conspicuous in late summer. It may be expanding its range in response to a warming climate.

Neophyte