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

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]

Together with Portulaca oleracea , Ipomoea pes-caprae and Melanthera biflora , Digitaria ciliaris is usually one of the first species colonizing degraded or altered environments in tropical zones of the planet. [6]

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. [7] [8] Red river crabgrass responds well to nitrogen fertilizer, growing up to 3 feet tall, and needs to be in rotation with cool-season forage.

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Cynodon is a genus of plants in the grass family. It is native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Old World, as well as being cultivated and naturalized in the New World and on many oceanic islands.

<i>Digitaria</i> Genus of plants (grasses; crabgrass)

Digitaria is a genus of plants in the grass family native to tropical and warm temperate regions but can occur in tropical, subtropical, and cooler temperate regions as well. Common names include crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio. They are slender monocotyledonous annual and perennial lawn, pasture, and forage plants; some are often considered lawn pests. Digitus is the Latin word for "finger", and they are distinguished by the long, finger-like inflorescences they produce.

<i>Elymus repens</i> Species of grass

Elymus repens, commonly known as couch grass, is a very common perennial species of grass native to most of Europe, Asia, the Arctic biome, and northwest Africa. It has been brought into other mild northern climates for forage or erosion control, but is often considered a weed.

<i>Cenchrus ciliaris</i> Species of grass

Cenchrus ciliaris is a species of grass native to most of Africa, southern Asia, southern Iran, and the extreme south of Europe (Sicily). Other names by which this grass is known include dhaman grass, anjan grass, koluk katai and buffelgrass.

<i>Ipomoea pes-caprae</i> Species of flowering plant

Ipomoea pes-caprae, also known as bayhops, bay-hops, beach morning glory, railroad vine or goat's foot, is a common pantropical creeping vine belonging to the family Convolvulaceae. It grows on the upper parts of beaches and endures salted air. It is one of the most common and most widely distributed salt tolerant plants and provides one of the best known examples of oceanic dispersal. Its seeds float and are unaffected by salt water.

<i>Cabomba caroliniana</i> Species of aquatic plant

Cabomba caroliniana, commonly known as Carolina fanwort and various other names, is an aquatic perennial herbaceous plant native to North and South America. Having been a popular aquarium plant, it has been exported around the world, and has become an invasive species in Europe and Australia.

<i>Digitaria sanguinalis</i> Species of grass sometimes used as a crop

Digitaria sanguinalis is a species of grass known by several common names, including hairy crabgrass, hairy finger-grass, large crabgrass, crab finger grass, purple crabgrass. It is one of the better-known species of the genus Digitaria, and one that is known nearly worldwide as a common weed. It is used as animal fodder, and the seeds are edible and have been used as a grain in Germany and especially Poland, where it is sometimes cultivated. This has earned it the name Polish millet.

<i>Digitaria ischaemum</i> Species of plant

Digitaria ischaemum is a species of crabgrass known by the common names smooth crabgrass and small crabgrass. It is native to Europe and Asia, but it is known throughout much of the warm temperate world as an introduced species and often a common roadside and garden weed. It is an annual grass producing an inflorescence with two or more narrow branches lined with tiny spikelets.

<i>Aloiampelos ciliaris</i> Species of vine

Aloiampelos ciliaris, formerly Aloe ciliaris, the common climbing-aloe, is a thin, tough, rapidly growing succulent plant from South Africa.

Digitaria californica is a species of grass known by the common name Arizona cottontop. It is native to the Americas, where it can be found in the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America.

<i>Panicum repens</i> Species of plant

Panicum repens is a species of grass known by many common names, including torpedo grass, creeping panic, panic rampant, couch panicum, wainaku grass, quack grass, dog-tooth grass, and bullet grass. Its exact native range is obscure. Sources suggest that the grass is native to "Africa and/or Asia", "Europe or Australia", "Eurasia", "Australia", "Europe, Asia, and Africa", or other specific regions, including the Mediterranean, Israel, and Argentina. It is present in many places as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. It has been called "one of the world's worst weeds."

Digitaria pauciflora is a species of grass known by the common names twospike crabgrass, Florida pineland crabgrass, Everglades grass, few-flowered fingergrass, and particular grass. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it is found only in the Everglades.

<i>Digitaria cognata</i> Species of flowering plant

Digitaria cognata is a species of grass known by the common names fall witchgrass, Carolina crabgrass, and mountain hairgrass.

<i>Bothriochloa pertusa</i> Species of plant

Bothriochloa pertusa is a species of grass. It is widely used as a fodder and a graze for livestock.

<i>Digitaria didactyla</i> Species of flowering plant

Digitaria didactyla is a species of grass known by the common names blue couch, Queensland blue couch, blue serangoon grass, green serangoon grass, blue stargrass, and petit gazon. It is native to Mauritius, Réunion, parts of mainland Africa, and Madagascar. It has been introduced widely outside its native range, mainly for use as a pasture and turf grass. It has naturalized in some regions.

<i>Alysicarpus vaginalis</i> Species of flowering plant in the legume family

Alysicarpus vaginalis is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is native to parts of Africa and Asia, and it has been introduced to other continents, such as Australia and the Americas. It is cultivated as a fodder for livestock, for erosion control, and as a green manure. Common names include alyce clover, buffalo clover, buffalo-bur, one-leaf clover, and white moneywort.

<i>Digitaria eriantha</i> Species of grass

Digitaria eriantha, commonly known as digitgrass or Pangola-grass, is a grass grown in tropical and subtropical climates. It grows relatively well in various soils, but grows especially well in moist soils. It is tolerant to droughts, water lodging, suppresses weeds and grows relatively quickly after grazing. This grass demonstrates great potential for farmers in Africa in subtropical and tropical climates, mostly for livestock feed.

<i>Digitaria insularis</i> Species of grass

Digitaria insularis is a species of grass commonly known as sourgrass. It is native to Central and South America and the southern parts of the United States and has been introduced into other parts of the world. It was first described by the German botanist Friedrich Karl Georg Fedde in 1904.

<i>Brachiaria mutica</i> Species of plant

Brachiaria mutica is a species of grass known by the common names para grass, buffalo grass, Mauritius signal grass, pasto pare, malojilla, gramalote, parana, Carib grass, and Scotch grass. Despite its common name California grass, it does not occur in California; it is native to northern and central Africa and parts of the Middle East, where it is cultivated for fodder. It was introduced elsewhere and it is now cultivated throughout tropical regions of the world for this purpose.

<i>Lolium rigidum</i> Species of grass

Lolium rigidum is a species of annual grass. Common names by which it is known include annual ryegrass, a name also given to Italian ryegrass, rigid ryegrass, stiff darnel, Swiss ryegrass and Wimmera ryegrass. It is a native of southern Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent and is grown as a forage crop, particularly in Australia, where it is also a serious and economically damaging crop weed.

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. 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
  7. Bouton, J. "Crabgrass: A Short Step from Weed to Valuable Forage!".
  8. "Red River Fact Sheet".