Digitaria ciliaris |
Digitaria setigera |
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fingergrass, Henry's crabgrass, kukaepua'a, saulangi, smooth crabgrass, southern crab grass, tropical crabgrass |
East Indian crabgrass |
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Habit | Plants annual or of indefinite duration. | Plants of indefinite duration. | ||||
Culms | 10-100 cm long, erect portion 30-60 cm, long-decumbent, rooting and branching at the decumbent nodes, sparingly branched or unbranched from the upper nodes; nodes 2-5, glabrous. |
to 120 cm tall, bases long-decumbent and rooting at the lower nodes. |
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Sheaths | with papillose-based hairs; ligules 2-3.5 mm, erose; blades 1.5-14.4(18.9) cm long, 3-9 mm wide, flat, glabrous, a few scattered papillose-based hairs at the base of the adaxial surfaces (occasionally over the whole adaxial surface), usually also scabrous on both surfaces. |
with papillose-based hairs; ligules 2.5-3.5 mm; blades 4-28 cm long, 4-12 mm wide, scabrous, usually with some scattered papillose-based hairs on the base of the adaxial surfaces, sometimes with hairs all over. |
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Panicles | with 2-10 spikelike primary branches, these digitate or in 1-3 whorls on rachises to 2 cm; lowest panicle nodes with hairs more than 0.4 mm; primary branches 3-24 cm long, 0.6-1.2(2) mm wide, glabrous or with less than 1 mm hairs, axes wing-margined, wings at least 1/2 as wide as the midribs, lower and middle portions of the branches bearing spikelets in unequally pedicellate pairs; secondary branches absent; shorter pedicels 0.5-1 mm; longer pedicels 1.5-4 mm. |
with 3-11 spikelike primary branches in 1-several whorls, rachises to 6 cm; primary branches 5-15 cm, axes wing-margined, wings more than 1/2 as wide as the midribs, lower and middle portions bearing spikelets in unequally pedicellate pairs; secondary branches absent; shorter pedicels 0.3-0.8 mm; longer pedicels 1.7-2.7 mm. |
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Spikelets | (2.7)2.8-4.1 mm long, homomorphic. |
2.4-3.5 mm, homomorphic, ovate. |
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Lower | glumes 0.2-0.8 mm, acute; upper glumes (1.2)1.5-2.7 mm, about 2/3 to almost as long as the spikelet, 3-veined, margins and apices pilose; lower lemmas 2.7-4.1 mm, 7-veined, veins unequally spaced, outer 3 veins crowded together near each margin, well-separated from the midvein, usually smooth, occasionally the lateral veins scabridulous on the distal 1/3 margins and regions between the 2 inner lateral veins hairy, hairs 0.5-1 mm (rarely glabrous), sometimes also with glassy yellow hairs between the 2 inner lateral veins, these more common on the upper spikelets; upper lemmas 2.5-4 mm, glabrous, yellow, tan, or gray when immature, becoming brown, often purple-tinged (occasionally completely purple) at maturity; anthers 0.6-1 mm. |
glumes absent or to 0.1 mm; upper glumes 0.2-1.3 mm, 1/6 - 1/3 as long as the spikelets, 1-3-veined, margins and apices with appressed, white hairs about 0.5 mm, truncate or bilobed; lower lemmas (5)7-veined, veins smooth or scabrous only over the distal 1/3, unequally spaced, margins and lateral intercostal regions silky-ciliate; upper lemmas tan or gray when immature, brown at maturity, acuminate; anthers 0.6-1.3 mm. |
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2n | = 54. |
= 70, 72. |
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Digitaria ciliaris |
Digitaria setigera |
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Distribution |
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
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FL; HI; PR |
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Discussion | Digitaria ciliaris is a weedy species, found in open, disturbed areas in most warm-temperate to tropical regions, primarily in the eastern United States. It is particularly abundant in the Southeast. So far as is known, the two varieties distinguished in the following key do not differ in any other characters. They are recognized here pending further study. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Digitaria setigera is native to southeastern Asia. It is now established in tropical America, growing in disturbed habitats in Florida and Central America, and probably in tropical South America. It has often been confused with D. sanguinalis. Plants in the Flora region belong to Digitaria setigera Roth var. setigera. Unlike plants of D. setigera var. calliblepharata (Henrard) Veldkamp, they do not have large, glassy hairs on their lower lemmas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 382. | FNA vol. 25, p. 382. | ||||
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Digitaria | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Digitaria | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | (Retz.) Koeler | Roth | ||||
Web links |