Digitaria violascens |
Digitaria ciliaris |
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violet crabgrass |
fingergrass, Henry's crabgrass, kukaepua'a, saulangi, smooth crabgrass, southern crab grass, tropical crabgrass |
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Habit | Plants annual or of indefinite duration. | Plants annual or of indefinite duration. | ||||
Culms | 15-60 cm, erect, usually not branching from the upper nodes; nodes 3-4. |
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. |
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Sheaths | glabrous or sparsely pubescent; ligules 0.6-2.5 mm; blades 1.5-9 cm long, 3-5 mm wide, glabrous, with papillose-based hairs basally. |
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. |
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Panicles | with 2-7 spikelike primary branches in 1-2 verticils; primary branches 3-12 cm, erect to ascending, axes 0.6-1 mm wide, wing-margined, wings at least 1/2 as wide as the midribs, lower and middle portions of the branches bearing spikelets in groups of 3(4, 5); secondary branches rarely present; axillary inflorescences absent. |
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. |
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Spikelets | 1.2-1.7 mm, homomorphic, narrowly elliptic. |
(2.7)2.8-4.1 mm long, homomorphic. |
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Lower glumes | absent or a veinless, membranous rim; upper glumes 1.2-1.4 mm, 1/2 as long as to almost equaling the upper lemmas, 3-veined, appressed-pubescent, hairs minutely verrucose; lower lemmas 1.2-1.7 mm, 5-7-veined, veins equally spaced, region between the 2 inner lateral veins and the margins appressed-pubescent, hairs 0.3-0.5 mm, smooth or minutely verrucose (use 50x magnification), verrucose hairs most abundant near the lemma bases; upper lemmas light brown when immature, dark brown at maturity; anthers 0.4-0.6 mm. |
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. |
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2n | = 36. |
= 54. |
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Digitaria violascens |
Digitaria ciliaris |
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Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; IN; KY; LA; MA; MS; NC; OK; SC; TN; TX; HI; PR
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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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Discussion | Digitaria violascens is a weedy species that is native to tropical regions of the Eastern Hemisphere. It is now established in the Flora region, primarily in the south-eastern United States, and in Mexico and Central America. It grows in disturbed sites. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 372. | 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 | Link | (Retz.) Koeler | ||||
Web links |