Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koeler

Southern Crabgrass

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Southern Crabgrass is a native weedy annual in the grass family. It is found throughout Alabama. Southern Crabgrass grows in disturbed sites such as in lawns, in fields, in flower beds, on sandbars, and in gardens. It is an annual warn season grass with fibrous roots. The culms are decumbent, branched, and root at the nodes. The nodes are glabrous. Leaves are alternate, lanceolate in outline, flat, and scabrous on both surfaces. The leaf sheath is pubescent with papillose based hairs. Flowers are produced in terminal panicles with 2-10 digitate branches. The midribs of the branches are winged. The upper glume is 3 veined and pubescent along the margins and apex. The lower lemma is 7 veined with the three outer veins crowded near the margins. The spikelets often become purplish when mature. The fruit is a grain. Southern Crabgrass is a common weed in landscapes and agricultural settings. It is often difficult to control because it persists in the seed bank, and any soil disturbance brings new seed to the surface where they germinate. Using mulch around landscape plants and in gardens is an efficient way to control it. Seedling should be pulled by hand as soon as they appear before they begin to flower and produce seed.—A. Diamond.

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Native FAC- (NWPL) G5 (Global Rank)

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