Eriochloa contracta is a species of grass known by the common name prairie cupgrass. It is native to the central United States and it is naturalized in areas to the east and west, where it is often a weed, especially in moist areas. This annual grass may grow up to a meter tall when erect or it may bend, rooting where nodes on the stem touch the ground. The inflorescence is up to 20 centimeters long and is made up of several branches which stick out to the sides. The branches are lined with purplish spikelets a few millimeters long.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Eriochloa contracta has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens8
Marker genes4
GenBank sequences2
eDNA detections4
Countries2
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★rbcL1★rbcLa★ITS1★ITS2
plant barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB
The complete instruction manualEriochloa contracta carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy84% within 1 km
≤100 m 101≤1 km 2≤10 km 1>10 km 19
123 georeferenced · 45 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor168
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy43% within 1 km
≤100 m 68≤1 km 70≤10 km 153>10 km 29
320 georeferenced · 219 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence539
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions46 of 62 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Wuzhou, CN
170
Bronx, US
43
Fort Worth, US
37
Davis, US
34
Austin, US
32
Saint Louis, US
23
Riverside, US
11
Odawara, JP
10
Logan, US
10
Chadron, US
9
Tampa, US
8
Claremont, US
8
Flagstaff, US
7
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
7
DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record
7
Emporia, US
7
Denver, US
6
Lubbock, US
6
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
6
Phoenix, US
5
Santa Barbara, US
5
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
4
ASUlocation not on record
4
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
4
Bloomington, US
4
BAYLUlocation not on record
4
Durango, MX
4
Pittsburg, US
3
DOI/NPS, Greenbelt Parklocation not on record
3
Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record
3
WTUlocation not on record
3
Lincoln, US
3
Ann Arbor, US
2
Tsukuba, JP
2
Fayetteville, US
2
San Angelo, US
2
Boise, US
2
Burlington, US
2
Jackson, US
2
Helsinki, FI
2
Little Rock, US
2
Wlocation not on record
1
Mexico City, MX
1
San Diego, US
1
Albuquerque, US
1
Bogotá, D.C., CO
1
UFERSAlocation not on record
1
Clemson, US
1
Guasave, MX
1
US
1
Knoxville, US
1
MEXUlocation not on record
1
Mississippi State, US
1
Arcata, US
1
China Agricultural Universitylocation not on record
1
Weber State Universitylocation not on record
1
Denton, US
1
US
1
Sagamihara, JP
1
Chapel Hill, US
1
McWane Science Centerlocation not on record
1
Columbia, US
1
62 institutions · 529 of 539 vouchered records shown · 10 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA4 detections
Where the DNA of Eriochloa contracta was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found4
Studies independent surveys1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 4 detections have coordinates
Open the map0 countries0
with Atriplex patula, Puccinellia distans, D…
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation2 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility707 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI4 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics8 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗