Digitaria
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Digitaria is a genus of about 300 species of grass (family Poaceae) native to tropical and warm temperate regions. Common names include crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio. They are slender monocotyledonous annual and perennial lawn, pasture, and forage plants; some are often considered lawn pests. Digitus is the Latin word for "finger", and they are distinguished by the long, finger-like inflorescences they produce.
All crabgrasses have similar growth habits and flowering structures, but species are separated by minor differences in the flower structures and leaf pubescence. They typically have spreading stems with wide flat leaf blades that lay on the ground with the tips ascending. The inflorescence is a panicle in which the spike-like branches are arranged in digitate fashion. The spikelets are arranged in two rows on an angled or winged rachis. Each spikelet has two florets, only one of which is fertile. The first bracts at the base of the spikelets are either very minute or absent (Cholewa & Bell).
Crabgrass seed has a long germination period; if conditions are right, it can germinate throughout the growing season. Crabgrasses occur in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions of both hemispheres.
Despite their weediness, crabgrasses do have a few redeeming qualities. The seeds, most notably those of fonio, can be toasted and ground into a flour, which can be used to make porridge or fermented to make beer. Fonio has been widely used as a staple crop in parts of Africa. It also has decent nutrient qualities as a forage for cattle.
Lawns
The most prevalent species of Digitaria in North America are Large Crabgrass (D. sanguinalis) and Smooth Crabgrass (D. ischaemum), which often become problem weeds in lawn and gardens. They are annual plants, and one plant is capable of producing 150,000 seeds per season. The plants invade lawns during the spring and summer and then leave large voids in the fall and winter when they die off. They also have a different texture and color that often interrupts the uniformity of a lawn. In vegetable gardens, crabgrass can quickly out-compete desirable plants, causing considerable yield reductions. Crabgrasses as controlled with pre-emergent herbicides that interfere with key enzymes, that are only active when a seed germinates. These herbicides must be applied at a critical time. If they are applied to the soil too early they get washed too deep into the soil by rainwater. If they are applied too late the key enzyme inhibited is no longer active. The rule of thumb is to apply when the local forsythia blooms are wilting.Selected species
- Digitaria ammophila Silky Umbrella Grass
- Digitaria bicornis Finger Grass
- Digitaria brownii Cotton Panic Grass
- Digitaria californica Arizona Cottontop
- Digitaria ciliaris Summer Grass, Southern Crabgrass
- Digitaria ctenantha Comb Finger Grass
- Digitaria didactyla Queensland Blue Couch
- Digitaria eriantha Pangolagrass
- Digitaria exilis Fonio
- Digitaria filiformis Slender Crabgrass
- Digitaria gracillima Longleaf Crabgrass
- Digitaria horizontalis Jamaican Crabgrass
- Digitaria ischaemum Smooth or Small Crabgrass, Smooth Finger-grass
- Digitaria longiflora Indian Crabgrass
- Digitaria milanjiana Madagascar Crabgrass
- Digitaria nuda Naked Crabgrass
- Digitaria pauciflora Twospike Crabgrass
- Digitaria radicosa Trailing Crabgrass
- Digitaria sanguinalis Hairy Crabgrass, Northern Crabgrass, Hairy Finger-grass, Pigeon Grass, Large Crabgrass
- Digitaria serotina Dwarf Crabgrass
- Digitaria texana Texas Crabgrass
- Digitaria velutina Velvet Crabgrass
- Digitaria villosa Shaggy Crabgrass
- Digitaria violascens Violet Crabgrass
Images
References
- [Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota] by A.F. Cholewa and J.F. Bell
- Andrea S. Vega and Zulma Rúgolo de Agrasar, [Morphological interpretation of the spikelet in Digitaria atra (Poaceae: Panicoideae: Paniceae) and emended generic description] American Journal of Botany (2001)
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