Echinochloa oryzoides

Early water grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Early water grass is a naturalized annual grass found in the Central Valley and Imperial Valley in wet places, especially rice fields, at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from June to October, this grass produces green-tipped spikelets 3.7 to 7 millimeters long with potential awns up to 5 centimeters. Growing in dense tufts with erect stems 40 to 120 centimeters tall, it develops drooping leaf blades 7 to 20 centimeters long and 4 to 12 millimeters wide. Its leaf sheaths are smooth and glabrous, with spreading to strongly drooping branched flower clusters. The fruit develops as a brownish grain nestled within the grass's distinctive spikelet structure.

Habitat: Wet places, especially rice fields, generally flower before rice

Bloom period: Jun-Oct

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: GV, DSon (Imperial Valley)

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.