Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

HAIRY CRABGRASS

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Digitaria sanguinalis (L. ) Scop.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 8-44 inches

Family: Poaceae - Grass Family

Flowering Period: August, September,October

Also Called:

Large crabgrass.

Culms:

Erect, ascending, or decumbent, stout, branching, glabrous, usually bent sharply near base, often rooting at nodes.

Blades:

Flat, 1 to 8 inches long, 1/8 to 1/2 inch wide, sometimes purplish, surfaces more or less rough with hairs from pimple-like bases.

Sheaths:

Shorter than internodes, loose, hairy; hairs with pimple-like bases.

Ligules:

Membranous, less than .1 inch long, thin, irregularly toothed.

Inflorescences:

Panicle of 2 to 9 spike-like branches, whorled or slanted along short axis; branches 2 to 7 inches long, green, often turning purplish; rachis flattened or winged.

Spikelets:

Narrow, pointed, 1/10 to 1/6 inch long, 1-flowered, usually pubescent between smooth or rough nerves, arranged close together in 2's on one side of rachis, one spikelet nearly sessile, the other short-stalked; first glume minute, triangular, glabrous; second glume lanceolate, pubescent, longer than first glume, 30-60% as long as spikelet; fertile lemma narrow, pale or grayish, equaling spikelet in length.

Habitat:

Waste areas, lawns, margins of ponds, rocky open sites, roadsides, and cultivated ground.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Origin:

Introduced from Europe and now naturalized

Forage Value:

Provides limited forage value in the late summer and fall.

Uses:

The seeds are eaten by wild turkeys and some songbirds.

Comments:

Hairy crabgrass is a common weed that flourishes in hot, dry weather. It forms large colonies due to its habit of rooting at the culm nodes. It resembles smooth crabgrass Digitaria ischaemum

Hairy crabgrass inflorescence