Today we are going to talk about a very common grass that is found in cereal crops and that is considered a weed that is abundant throughout the northern half of Spain. Its about rigid lily. Its common name is vallico and it is a plant widely used in meadows and lawns. Although it is considered a weed in the field of agriculture, it is used in common areas and urban parks. It is an annual monocotyledonous plant and is also known by other names such as amargallo, codilla, duello, luello, luejo, margallo.
In this article we are going to tell you all the characteristics, environmental requirements, distribution and interests that the rigid lily.
Key features
It is a type of plant that is commonly found in cereal crops. Despite being considered a weed in these fields, it is used in meadows and lawns. Has a germination between late summer to early winter. It can be found in cereal areas and its greatest emergence is in autumn. It belongs to the grass family and is an annual plant.
It has a height that goes from 10-60 centimeters and the stems are ascending. Its leaves are short and have a small membranous ligule. It has auricles and the stems are rougher in the upper part of the plant. It can have between 2 and 11 flowers and its anthers are 4.5 mm long. Some of the nearby species that can be confused with rigid lily is Perennial lily. This plant has smaller anthers and is a perennial plant. Their anthers are 3 mm in length. Another similar species is that of A multi-flowered lily. The difference with this plant is that it has shorter glumes and can reach 2/3 of the length of the A stiff lollipop.
Environmental requirements of the rigid lily
This plant is considered a weed in cereal fields. However, they need some environmental requirements in order to live well. It only develops in environments with a Mediterranean climate and is adapted to semi-arid climatic conditions. The success of its development and growth is due to the fact that its adaptation It allows you to be less demanding in terms of the amount of water you need. It is also capable of withstanding low temperatures and can be adapted to different kinds of soils.
These characteristics make it quite easy to grow into a plant when it comes to expanding its distribution area. It is native to the Mediterranean basin and its pasture cultivation has spread to various countries that also have a Mediterranean climate. We can find this plant in Australia although its surfaces have decreased considerably in recent years. The cause of the decline in these populations is due to the problem that exists with the ARGT (Annual RyeGrass Toxicity). The ARGT is poisoning livestock by consuming a toxin which is produced by the bacteria Rathayibacter toxicus in plants that are infected. The infection takes place in the plant and occurs by the bacteria that is produced through the existence of the nematode Anguina baleas.
These are one of the reasons why the populations of rigid lily have been reduced in these ecosystems. However, in Spain in the northern half of the country it is considered a weed that appears in cereal fields. It can be sown in pure culture or in mixtures and they need dry land or irrigated land. Although it does not need a lot of water to be able to develop, it does need some irrigation that takes advantage of the cereal crops.
Ways to use the rigid lily
This plant has a good establishment in the field once it is sown in early fall. We can find sowing dose of between 15-30 kilograms per hectare. Although it is considered an annual crop for sowing cars, it has some problems with persistence in the field after the third year. The causes of the reduction in persistence over time in a growing area are being studied to see what they are.
Although it is considered a weed in cereal fields, it has a forage interest. And it is a crop that has a good winter growth, as long as the autumn rains accompany it and it has a great tillering capacity. The tillering is nothing more than the characteristic that allows it to be easily extended if the need for an exhaustive cultivation.
In rainfed productions, their distribution and abundance are very oscillating. It basically depends on the legal regime that the populations exist and in the zones and can reach values of up to nine tons per meter and hectare depending on optimal conditions. It has a good quality forage and the crude protein content is quite high. In the higher quality forages we can find around the 25% crude protein when the plant is in the leafy state and of 14% of crude protein when it is encased.
Uses and varieties
Among the uses we have of rigid lily we have already seen in forage. It is used for grazing and harvesting. In rainfed crops, several uses are made and in irrigated areas more can be done. If the autumn rains are delayed in time and later the production takes place in early spring. This plant has the capacity to be able to re-gleaning and, therefore, it is used at the beginning of any gleaning. In this way, the plant is allowed to reappear and the next use can be made when the mushroom seed has fallen to the ground.
There are some varieties of rigid lily and autochthonous populations of the Ebro valley have been seen with quite productive results and a good utility for forage. Some of these varieties they are the Wimmera and the Nurra.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the rigid lily.
