Broadleaf Signalgrass

Urochloa platyphylla (Nash) R. Webster

(formerly Brachiaria platyphylla)

Poaceae (Grass Family)

▲ ▼ mature plants

▲ ▼ inflorescence

▲ ▼ stems and leaves, showing nodes, ligule and collar regions, and wrinkling on only one side of leaf blade

Broadleaf Signalgrass: 

·         spreading summer annual, with horizontal stem bases and up-turned flowering branches

·         stems may root at the nodes

·         leaf sheaths may be green to reddish, and are hairy

·         leaf blades are rolled in the bud and often have one side of the leaf blade “crinkled” and the other smooth

·         leaf blades are broad (1/4-1/2” wide) and not really long (1.5-6”) and stand out from the flowering stems

·         leaves may be hairless or have hairs along edge of leaf; ligule is  a very short, fringed membrane-like structure

·         inflorescence has 2-6 stiff, upright, branches, with florets/seeds  somewhat flattened and held close to the panicle branches

·         common in sandy soils, southern crops; common in southeast Missouri