Digitaria ciliaris

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Digitaria ciliaris
Starr 050404-5432 Digitaria ciliaris.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Genus: Digitaria
Species:
D. ciliaris
Binomial name
Digitaria ciliaris
(Retz.) Koeler
Synonyms [1]
  • Asprella digitataLam.
  • Digitaria abortivaReeder
  • Digitaria adscendens(Kunth) Henrard
  • Digitaria brevifoliaLink
  • Digitaria chinensisHornem.
  • Digitaria chrysoblepharaFig. & De Not.
  • Digitaria fimbriataLink
  • Digitaria inaequale(Link) Spreng.
  • Digitaria inaequalis(Link) Spreng.
  • Digitaria marginataLink
  • Digitaria pes-avisBuse
  • Digitaria sericea(Honda) Ohwi
  • Digitaria tarapacanaPhil.
  • Leersia digitata(Lam.) Poir.
  • Milium ciliare(Retz.) Moench
  • Milium ciliatumMoench nom. illeg.
  • Panicum adscendensKunth
  • Panicum brachyphyllumSteud.
  • Panicum brevifolium(Link) Kunth nom. illeg.
  • Panicum ciliareRetz.
  • Panicum fimbriatum(Link) Kunth
  • Panicum inaequale(Link) E.Fourn. nom. illeg.
  • Panicum linkianumKunth
  • Panicum marginellumSchrad. nom. illeg.
  • Panicum ornithopusTrin.
  • Panicum pes-avis(Buse) Koord.
  • Panicum villiferumNees
  • Paspalum ciliare(Retz.) DC.
  • Paspalum inaequaleLink
  • Sanguinaria ciliaris(Retz.) Bubani
  • Spartina puberaHassk. nom. inval.
  • Syntherisma ciliare(Retz.) Schrad.
  • Syntherisma ciliaris(Retz.) Schrad.
  • Syntherisma fimbriata(Link) Nash
  • Syntherisma marginata(Link) Nash
  • Syntherisma sericeaHonda
At Peradeniya Royal Botanical Garden. Digitaria ciliaris at Peradeniya Royal Botanical Garden.jpg
At Peradeniya Royal Botanical Garden.

Digitaria ciliaris is a species of grass known by the common names southern crabgrass, [2] tropical finger-grass, [3] tropical crabgrass or summer grass. [4]

Contents

The grass is known as "ගුරු තණ - guru thana" in Sri Lanka.

Distribution and habitat

Digitaria ciliaris is a tough plant, believed to have originated in Asia but now found all over the tropical belt of the planet, as well as in many temperate regions of both hemispheres. [5] This grass is an invasive species considered an aggressive weed in certain countries, including China, Mexico and the United States. [5]

This species has been observed growing in habitats such as coastal dunes, tidal marshes, and saw palmetto flats. [6]

Together with Portulaca oleracea , Ipomoea pes-caprae and Wollastonia biflora , Digitaria ciliaris is usually one of the first species colonizing degraded or altered environments in tropical zones of the planet. [7]

Description

This grass is an annual plant that can grow up to 1 m tall but is usually much shorter. The roots are at the nodes and the stems produce runners that allow the plant to grow fast forming scruffy-looking patches about 1 m across and half a metre in height. The leaves are linear to linear-ovate narrowing at the tip to 15 centimeters long. The inflorescence is at the top of a long stem, usually much taller than the leaves, with two to nine 5–10 cm long sub-digitate racemes. [5]

General appearance of the grass. Starr 080605-6706 Digitaria ciliaris.jpg
General appearance of the grass.
Plant and roots. Starr 020112-9001 Digitaria ciliaris.jpg
Plant and roots.

Forage Crop

Southern crabgrass, and the related large crabgrass, especially the cultivars 'Red River Crabgrass', 'Impact', and 'Quick-n-Big', have been utilized as a forage crop for livestock, as it is a highly nutritious warm season grass. [8] [9] Red river crabgrass responds well to nitrogen fertilizer, growing up to 3 feet tall, and needs to be in rotation with cool-season forage.

References

  1. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species" . Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  2. Digitaria ciliaris. USDA Plants Profile.
  3. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  4. Digitaria ciliaris - Common Australian Garden Weeds Archived 2012-05-02 at the Wayback Machine .
  5. 1 2 3 Digitaria ciliaris - CABI
  6. Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: May 2023. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, A. F. Clewell, D. Crowson, D. S. Correll, R. K. Godfrey, Bruce Hansen, R. Komarek, R. Kral, H. Kurz, R. L. Lazor, Sidney McDaniel, Richard S. Mitchell, Paul Redfearn, William Reese, Ginny Vail, and Eula Whitehouse. States and counties: Florida: Bay, Collier, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Jackson, Leon, Liberty, Manatee, Okaloosa, Seminole, Taylor, Wakulla, and Walton.
  7. Heatwole, H., Done, T., Cameron, E. Community Ecology of a Coral Cay, A Study of One-Tree Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Series: Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 43, p. 102
  8. Bouton, J. "Crabgrass: A Short Step from Weed to Valuable Forage!".
  9. "Red River Fact Sheet".