Bothriochloa ischaemum is a perennial grass that can grow from 3 to 5 ft. (1-1.5 m) tall.
Foliage
Leaves are basal, glaucous, flat, and 1 to 10 in. (2.5-25 cm) long with scattered hairs. Stems are slender, solid, and green turning yellow when mature with brown to purple nodes.
Flowers
The inflorescence of B. ischaemum is a terminal, subdigitate panicle that is purplish in color and has 2 to 10 racemes that are 1-3.5 in. (2.5-9 cm) long. Spikelets are in pairs with one sessile and perfect and the other pedicellate and sterile. The perfect flower is 0.12-0.18 in. (3-4.6 mm) long and ovate. The blooming period occurs in mid summer.
Fruit
Seeds are brown in color. The seeding period occurs from summer through fall. This plant reproduces from seed.
Ecological Threat
B. ischaemum grows in dry stony places, fields, roadsides, waste ground, and pastures. It is native to Asia and Europe.