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Digitaria

 
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Digitaria
 
 
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Digitaria is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of about 300 species of grass
Grass

Grass is the common word that generally describes monocotyledonous green plants. The family Poaceae are the "true grasses" and include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns ....
 (family Poaceae
Poaceae

Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
) native to tropical and warm temperate regions. Common names include crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio
Fonio

Fonio is the term for cultivated grains in the Digitaria genus. These are notable in parts of West Africa and one species in India. The grains are very small....
. They are slender monocotyledon
Monocotyledon

Monocotyledons or monocots are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognised, the other being dicotyledons or dicots....
ous annual and perennial lawn, pasture, and forage plants; some are often considered lawn pests. Digitus is the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 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
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
 structures and leaf
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 pubescence.






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Digitaria is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of about 300 species of grass
Grass

Grass is the common word that generally describes monocotyledonous green plants. The family Poaceae are the "true grasses" and include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns ....
 (family Poaceae
Poaceae

Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
) native to tropical and warm temperate regions. Common names include crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio
Fonio

Fonio is the term for cultivated grains in the Digitaria genus. These are notable in parts of West Africa and one species in India. The grains are very small....
. They are slender monocotyledon
Monocotyledon

Monocotyledons or monocots are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognised, the other being dicotyledons or dicots....
ous annual and perennial lawn, pasture, and forage plants; some are often considered lawn pests. Digitus is the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 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
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
 structures and leaf
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 pubescence. They typically have spreading stems with wide flat leaf blades that lie on the ground with the tips ascending. The inflorescence is a panicle
Panicle

A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched Indeterminate growth inflorescence with Pedicel flowers attached along the secondary branches ....
 in which the spike-like branches are arranged in digitate fashion. The spikelets are arranged in two rows on an angled or winged rachis
Rachis

The rachis is the main axis of the inflorescence, or spike, of wheat and other cereals, to which the spikelets are attached. It is also the part of the axis that the pinnae are attached to in ferns, the main stem of a compound leaf , or the main axis in compound inflorescences in other angiosperms....
. 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.

Crabgrass seed has a long germination
Germination

Germination is the process whereby growth emerges from a period of dormancy. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an flowering plant or gymnosperm....
 period; if conditions are right, it can germinate throughout the growing season. Crabgrasses occur in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions of both hemisphere
Hemisphere

Hemisphere may refer to:*half of a sphereAs half of the Earth:*Any half of the Earth or other planetary or stellar body*New World*Old World...
s.

Despite their weediness, crabgrasses do have a few redeeming qualities. The seeds, most notably those of fonio
Fonio

Fonio is the term for cultivated grains in the Digitaria genus. These are notable in parts of West Africa and one species in India. The grains are very small....
, can be toasted and ground into a flour
Flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
, which can be used to make porridge
Porridge

Porridge, or porage, is a simple dish made by boiling oats or another cereal in water, milk, or both. It is eaten in a flat bowl or a dish....
 or fermented
Fermentation (food)

Fermentation in food processing typically refers to the conversion of sugar to alcohol using yeast under anaerobic conditions. A more general definition of fermentation is the chemical conversion of carbohydrates into alcohols or acids....
 to make beer
Beer

Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and Fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal?the most common of which is malted barley, although wheat, maize , and rice are widely used....
. Fonio
Fonio

Fonio is the term for cultivated grains in the Digitaria genus. These are notable in parts of West Africa and one species in India. The grains are very small....
 has been widely used as a staple crop in parts of Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
. It also has decent nutrient qualities as a forage for cattle.

"Crabgrass" can also refer to a garden or yard.

Lawns

The most prevalent species of Digitaria in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 are Large Crabgrass (D. sanguinalis
Digitaria sanguinalis

Digitaria sanguinalis is a species of Poaceae known by the common name hairy crabgrass. It is one of the better-known species of Digitaria, and one that is known nearly worldwide as a common weed....
), sometimes known as Hairy Crabgrass; and Smooth Crabgrass (D. ischaemum). These species often become problem weed
WEED

WEED is a radio station broadcasting a Gospel format. Licensed to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA, it serves the area. The station is currently owned by Northstar Broadcasting Corporation....
s in lawns and gardens, growing especially well in lawns that are watered lightly, underfertilized, poorly drained, and growing thinly. They are annual plants, and one plant is capable of producing 150,000 seeds per season. The seeds germinate in the late spring and early summer and outcompete the domesticated lawn grasses and expand outward in a circle up to 12 inches in diameter. In the fall when the plants die they leave large voids in the lawn. The voids then become prime areas for the crabgrass seeds to germinate the following season. Crabgrasses also have a different texture and color that often interrupts the uniformity of a lawn. In vegetable
Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
 gardens, crabgrass can quickly out-compete desirable plants, causing yield reductions. Crabgrasses can be controlled with pre-emergent herbicides that interfere with a key enzyme 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
Forsythia

Forsythia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae . There are about 11 species, mostly native to eastern Asia, but one native to southeastern Europe....
 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 / Smut's Finger Grass
  • Digitaria exilis
    Fonio

    Fonio is the term for cultivated grains in the Digitaria genus. These are notable in parts of West Africa and one species in India. The grains are very small....
     Fonio
  • Digitaria filiformis Slender Crabgrass
  • Digitaria gracillima Longleaf Crabgrass
  • Digitaria horizontalis Jamaican Crabgrass
  • Digitaria insularis
    Sourgrass

    Sourgrass is a common name given to several plant species which have a sour taste. Most are in fact not grasses:* Digitaria insularis, a true grass ...
     Sourgrass
  • 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
    Digitaria sanguinalis

    Digitaria sanguinalis is a species of Poaceae known by the common name hairy crabgrass. It is one of the better-known species of Digitaria, and one that is known nearly worldwide as a common weed....
     Hairy Crabgrass, Northern Crabgrass, Hairy Finger-grass, Pigeon Grass, Large Crabgrass
  • Digitaria setigera
  • Digitaria serotina Dwarf Crabgrass
  • Digitaria texana Texas Crabgrass
  • Digitaria velutina Velvet Crabgrass
  • Digitaria villosa Shaggy Crabgrass
  • Digitaria violascens Violet Crabgrass


Images

Crabgrass