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Hairy Crabgrass

Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.

Associations

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Foodplant / parasite
Blumeria graminis parasitises live Digitaria sanguinalis

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Comments

provided by eFloras
The scabrous veins of the lower lemma, although a small character requiring a good lens, are the best means of distinguishing this species from Digitaria ciliaris.

This species is a good forage grass.

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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of China Vol. 22: 540, 542, 543 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of China @ eFloras.org
editor
Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven & Hong Deyuan
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eFloras.org
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Comments

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Digitaria cruciata (Nees ex Steud) A. Camus is similar to, and often confused with Digitaria sanguinalis. The species is characterised by plump apiculate spikelets in which the nerves of the lower lemma are smooth, lacking the minute spines which are a feature of Digitaria sanguinalis. Neither character alone is sufficient to distinguish the two species since Digitaria sanguinalis may have equally plump spikelets or very few spines which are easy to overlook. Digitaria cruciata is confined mainly to the eastern Himalayas but extending as far west as Simla, and may only be a subspecies of Digitaria sanguinalis. No specimens corresponding to the type of Digitaria cruciata (Royle 28, LIV) have been found in Pakistan or Kashmir.

Digitaria sanguinalis is a common weed in warm temperate and subtropical parts of the Old World and has found its way into most other countries. Like Digitaria ciliaris it is polymorphic and no attempt has been made to present an infraspecific break-down; this is dealt with in some detail by Henrard.

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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of Pakistan Vol. 0: 231 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Flora of Pakistan @ eFloras.org
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S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser
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eFloras.org
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Description

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Annuals; culms prostrate, basal nodes branching and rooting, to 3 mm in diam., to 100 cm high. Blades linear-lanceolate, 4-15 cm long, 3-9 mm wide, margins thick; ligule membranaceous, obtuse, 1- 3 mm long; sheath usually shorter than internodes, more or less tubercle hairy. Racemes 5-15 cm long, 3-10, digitately arranged; rachis ca. 1 mm wide, margins winged, green and serrulate, midrib white and ca. 1/3 as wide as rachis. Spikelets ca. 3 mm long, lanceolate, usually paired, one pedicellate and other sessile or shortly pediceled; pedicel compressed and margins serrate; lower glume minute, triangular, ca. 0.2 mm long, membranaceous; upper glume ca. 1/2-3/4 as long as spikelet, 3-veined, margins ciliated; lower lemma and upper lemma similar, nearly as long as the spikelet, 5-7-veined, median 3 veins far apart, glabrous, lateral one close and obscure, more or less ciliated along interveins and margins; upper florate cartilaginous, nearly as long as spikelet.
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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Gramineae (Poaceae) in Flora of Taiwan Vol. 0 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Poaceae in Flora of Taiwan @ eFloras.org
editor
Chang-Sheng Kuoh
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eFloras.org
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Description

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Annual. Culms erect or decumbent at base, 10–80 cm tall, glabrous or nodes bearded. Leaf sheaths glabrous or sparsely papillose-pilose; leaf blades linear-lanceolate, 5–20 × 0.4–1.2 cm, glabrous or pilose, margins thickened, scabrous; ligule 1–3 mm. Inflorescence digitate or subdigitate, axis 1–2 cm; racemes 4–12, stiff, 5–18 cm; spikelets paired, overlapping by about 2/3 their length; rachis winged, midrib triquetrous, margins scabrous. Spikelets elliptic-lanceolate, 3–3.5 mm, acute; lower glume small, ca. 0.2 mm, triangular; upper glume lanceolate, 1/3–1/2 spikelet length, 3-veined, pubescent, subacute; lower lemma as long as spikelet, 7-veined, veins evenly spaced or a broader interspace flanking the midvein, midvein smooth, lateral veins setiform-scabrous especially toward the apex, appressed-pubescent on lateral intervein spaces and margins, rarely also setose; upper lemma greenish gray or light brown, lanceolate, as long as spikelet, apex acuminate. Anthers ca. 1 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Sep. 2n = 28, 36.
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of China Vol. 22: 540, 542, 543 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of China @ eFloras.org
editor
Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven & Hong Deyuan
project
eFloras.org
original
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eFloras

Description

provided by eFloras
Annual; culms 20.60 cm high or sometimes more, decumbent at the base, geniculately ascending. Leaf-blades broadly linear to narrowly lanceolate, 3-30 cm long, 3-17 mm wide. Inflorescence digitate or subdigitate (rarely with an axis up to 15 cm long in robust specimens), composed of 2-16 racemes; racemes stiff, 3-20 cm long, the spikelets binate and overlapping by about two-thirds their length on a winged rhachis with triquetrous midrib; pedicels triquetrous, scabrid, obtuse or slightly expanded at the tip. Spikelets narrowly elliptic to ovate elliptic, 2.3-3.5 mm long, sharply acute; lower glume an ovate scale 0.2 mm long; upper glume a third to half as long as the spikelet, 3-nerved; lower lemma as long as the spikelet, 7-nerved, the nerves evenly spaced (or occasionally with a wide interspace flanking the midrib), scaberulous on the nerves with minute siliceous spines, obscurely and appressedly pubescent, rarely with brownish glassy bristles very rarely with a ciliate frill; fruit lanceolate, grey or light brown.
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of Pakistan Vol. 0: 231 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of Pakistan @ eFloras.org
editor
S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser
project
eFloras.org
original
visit source
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eFloras

Distribution

provided by eFloras
The temperate and warm regions of the world. Taiwan, naturalized around villages and in waste places.
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Gramineae (Poaceae) in Flora of Taiwan Vol. 0 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Poaceae in Flora of Taiwan @ eFloras.org
editor
Chang-Sheng Kuoh
project
eFloras.org
original
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eFloras

Distribution

provided by eFloras
Distribution: Pakistan (Baluchistan, Punjab, N.W.F.P., Gilgit & Kashmir); warn temperate regions throughout the World, penetrating into the tropics.
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of Pakistan Vol. 0: 231 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of Pakistan @ eFloras.org
editor
S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser
project
eFloras.org
original
visit source
partner site
eFloras

Flower/Fruit

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Fl. & Fr. Per.: July-September.
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cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of Pakistan Vol. 0: 231 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of Pakistan @ eFloras.org
editor
S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser
project
eFloras.org
original
visit source
partner site
eFloras

Habitat & Distribution

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Fields, roadsides, weedy places. Anhui, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang [warm-temperate and upland subtropical regions throughout the world].
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of China Vol. 22: 540, 542, 543 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of China @ eFloras.org
editor
Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven & Hong Deyuan
project
eFloras.org
original
visit source
partner site
eFloras

Synonym

provided by eFloras
Panicum sanguinalis L., Sp. Pl. 57. 1753.
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cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Gramineae (Poaceae) in Flora of Taiwan Vol. 0 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Poaceae in Flora of Taiwan @ eFloras.org
editor
Chang-Sheng Kuoh
project
eFloras.org
original
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eFloras

Synonym

provided by eFloras
Panicum sanguinale Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 57. 1753; Paspa-lum sanguinale (Linnaeus) Lamarck.
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of China Vol. 22: 540, 542, 543 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of China @ eFloras.org
editor
Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven & Hong Deyuan
project
eFloras.org
original
visit source
partner site
eFloras

Physical Description

provided by USDA PLANTS text
Annuals, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems trailing, spreading or prostrate, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems geniculate, decumbent, or lax, sometimes rooting at nodes, Stems mat or turf forming, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems with inflorescence 1-2 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly caul ine, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence a panicle with digitately arranged spicate branches, Inflorescence with 2-10 branches, Inflorescence branches 1-sided, Lower panicle branches whorled, Rachis dilated, flat, central axis to which spikelets are attached, Rachis winged, Rachis angular, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelet with 1 fertile floret and 1-2 sterile florets, Spikelets paired at rachis nodes, Spi kelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Spikelets secund, in rows on one side of rachis, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 1 clearly present, the other greatly reduced or absent, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glume surface hairy, villous or pilose, Glumes 3 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma awnless, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea about equal to lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.
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Dr. David Bogler
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Missouri Botanical Garden
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USDA NRCS NPDC
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USDA PLANTS text

Digitaria sanguinalis

provided by wikipedia EN

Digitaria sanguinalis is a species of grass known by several common names, including hairy crabgrass,[2] hairy finger-grass,[3] large crabgrass, crab finger grass, purple crabgrass.[4] It is one of the better-known species of the genus Digitaria, and one that is known nearly worldwide as a common weed. It is used as animal fodder, and the seeds are edible and have been used as a grain in Germany and especially Poland, where it is sometimes cultivated.[5] This has earned it the name Polish millet.[6]

Description

It is an annual grass with an inflorescence of up to nine very long, very thin, radiating branches atop its stems. Each branch is lined with pairs of very tiny spikelets. The inflorescences may be reddish or purplish.

Uses

During the European Middle Ages, Digitaria sanguinalis was cultivated by Slavic peoples in Eastern Europe, where it was cooked in soups and porridges.[7]

The plant was brought to the United States by immigrants to serve as hand-foraged grain. The grass is also highly nutritious, especially before the plant exhausts itself producing seed. It is frequently sown in fields to provide graze for animals, or clipped and bundled as hay. Compared to other grasses, it has a relatively high protein percentage.[8] Farmers will sometimes till patches in their pastures in the late spring, with the intent of encouraging crabgrass seed.

For human consumption, crabgrass necessarily must be harvested by hand, because it produces grain throughout summer, rather than simultaneously. Machine harvesting would require monthly passes, and even then much of the seed would go to waste. Crabgrass produces an exceptionally high amount of grain, it smothers other weeds, it acts as its own mulch, and it can survive both heat and drought. Its adaptability makes it a candidate for environmental small-farming.[9]

Control

Its usefulness to nineteenth-century homesteaders has made its seed widespread, and today is generally considered an unattractive nuisance. Crabgrass takes advantage of low fertility and drought, since this tends to weaken other grasses and it tends to invade manicured turf. It is difficult to kill, as it will regenerate, and chemicals will likely harm surrounding grasses. As an annual, it can be controlled by preemergent herbicides. The most efficient means of control is to pull patches, and keep the rest of the lawn watered and mowed at a height of two to three inches.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 7 February 2015 – via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  2. ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Digitaria sanguinalis". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  3. ^ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  4. ^ "Digitaria sanguinalis". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  5. ^ Georgia, Ada E. 1914. A Manual of Weeds. The Macmillan Company. Digitaria sanguinalis section
  6. ^ Polish millet - Merriam-Webster Online(subscription required)
  7. ^ Nesbitt, Mark (2005). Prance, Ghillean; Nesbitt, Mark (eds.). The Cultural History of Plants. Routledge. p. 47. ISBN 0415927463.
  8. ^ "Digitaria sanguinalis". Plants for a Future.
  9. ^ Green Deane. "Crabgrass Was King".
  10. ^ Digitaria sanguinalis - Cabi

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wikipedia EN

Digitaria sanguinalis: Brief Summary

provided by wikipedia EN

Digitaria sanguinalis is a species of grass known by several common names, including hairy crabgrass, hairy finger-grass, large crabgrass, crab finger grass, purple crabgrass. It is one of the better-known species of the genus Digitaria, and one that is known nearly worldwide as a common weed. It is used as animal fodder, and the seeds are edible and have been used as a grain in Germany and especially Poland, where it is sometimes cultivated. This has earned it the name Polish millet.

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Wikipedia authors and editors
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wikipedia EN