Digitaria ciliaris

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]

Digitaria ciliaris

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
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 digitata Lam.
  • Digitaria abortiva Reeder
  • Digitaria adscendens (Kunth) Henrard
  • Digitaria brevifolia Link
  • Digitaria chinensis Hornem.
  • Digitaria chrysoblephara Fig. & De Not.
  • Digitaria fimbriata Link
  • Digitaria inaequale (Link) Spreng.
  • Digitaria inaequalis (Link) Spreng.
  • Digitaria marginata Link
  • Digitaria pes-avis Buse
  • Digitaria sericea (Honda) Ohwi
  • Digitaria tarapacana Phil.
  • Leersia digitata (Lam.) Poir.
  • Milium ciliare (Retz.) Moench
  • Milium ciliatum Moench nom. illeg.
  • Panicum adscendens Kunth
  • Panicum brachyphyllum Steud.
  • Panicum brevifolium (Link) Kunth nom. illeg.
  • Panicum ciliare Retz.
  • Panicum fimbriatum (Link) Kunth
  • Panicum inaequale (Link) E.Fourn. nom. illeg.
  • Panicum linkianum Kunth
  • Panicum marginellum Schrad. nom. illeg.
  • Panicum ornithopus Trin.
  • Panicum pes-avis (Buse) Koord.
  • Panicum villiferum Nees
  • Paspalum ciliare (Retz.) DC.
  • Paspalum inaequale Link
  • Sanguinaria ciliaris (Retz.) Bubani
  • Spartina pubera Hassk. nom. inval.
  • Syntherisma ciliare (Retz.) Schrad.
  • Syntherisma ciliaris (Retz.) Schrad.
  • Syntherisma fimbriata (Link) Nash
  • Syntherisma marginata (Link) Nash
  • Syntherisma sericea Honda
At Peradeniya Royal Botanical Garden.

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.
Plant and roots.

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". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  4. Digitaria ciliaris - Common Australian Garden Weeds Archived 2012-05-02 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. 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
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