Digitaria

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Cladus: Commelinids
Ordo: Poales

Familia: Poaceae
Subfamilia: Panicoideae
Tribus: Paniceae
Subtribus: Anthephorinae
Genus: Digitaria
Sectiones: D. sect. Aequiglumae – D. sect. Digitaria – D. sect. Erianthae – D. sect. Filiformes – D. sect. Gibbosae – D. sect. Glabratae – D. sect. Heteranthae – D. sect. Ischaemum – D. sect. Laniflorae – D. sect. Leucostachyae – D. sect. Monodactylae – D. sect. Parviflorae – D. sect. Pennatae – D. sect. Phaeotrichae – D. sect. Transversales
Subsectiones: D. subsect. Pennatae – D. subsect. Sanguinales
Species: D. abludens – D. abyssinica – D. acuminatissima – D. adamaouensis – D. aequatoriensis – D. aequiglumis – D. ammophila – D. andicola – D. andringitrensis – D. angolensis – D. ankaratrensis – D. appropinquata – D. arenicola – D. argillacea – D. argyrograpta – D. argyrotricha – D. aridicola – D. aristulata – D. arushae – D. asthenes – D. atra – D. atrofusca – D. badia – D. baileyi – D. bakeri – D. balansae – D. barbinodis – D. basaltica – D. benthamiana – D. bicornis – D. bidactyla – D. blakei – D. bonplandii – D. bovonii – D. brazzae – D. breedlovei – D. brownii – D. brunoana – D. calcarata – D. caledonica – D. californica – D. cardenasiana – D. catamarcensis – D. cayoensis – D. chacoensis – D. chaseae – D. ciliaris – D. clavitricha – D. coenicola – D. cognata – D. comifera – D. compacta – D. complanata – D. compressa – D. connivens – D. corynotricha – D. costaricensis – D. cowiei – D. cruciata – D. ctenantha – D. cuatrecasasii – D. curtigluma – D. curvinervis – D. cuyabensis – D. debilis – D. delicata – D. delicatula – D. diagonalis – D. didactyla – D. diffusa – D. diminuta – D. diminuta – D. dioica – D. distans – D. divaricatissima – D. diversinervis – D. doellii – D. dolichophylla – D. dolleryi – D. dunensis – D. dusenii – D. duthieana – D. effusa – D. eggersii – D. ekmanii – D. eminens – D. enodis – D. eriantha – D. eriostachya – D. evrardii – D. exilis – D. eylesii – D. fauriei – D. fibrosa – D. fiebrigii – D. filiformis – D. flaccida – D. floridana – D. fragilis – D. fujianensis – D. fulva – D. fumida – D. fuscescens – D. fuscopilosa – D. gardneri – D. gaudichaudii – D. gayana – D. gazensis – D. gentilis – D. gerdesii – D. gibbosa – D. glauca – D. gracillima – D. griffithii – D. gymnostachys – D. gymnotheca – D. hengduanensis – D. henrardii – D. henryi – D. hentyi – D. herpocladus – D. heterantha – D. hitchcockii – D. hololeuca – D. horizontalis – D. hubbardii – D. humbertii – D. hyalina – D. hydrophila – D. hystrichoides – D. iburua – D. imbricata – D. incisa – D. induta – D. insularis – D. intecta – D. ischaemum – D. jansenii – D. jubata – D. junghuhniana – D. killeenii – D. lanceolata – D. lanuginosa – D. larsenii – D. laxa – D. lehmanniana – D. leiantha – D. leptalea – D. leptorrhachis – D. leucites – D. leucostachya – D. longiflora – D. macroblephara – D. madagascariensis – D. maitlandii – D. maniculata – D. manongarivensis – D. mariannensis – D. mattogrossensis – D. mauritiana – D. megasthenes – D. melanotricha – D. mezii – D. milanjiana – D. minima – D. minoriflora – D. mollicoma – D. monobotrys – D. monodactyla – D. monodii – D. monopholis – D. montana – D. multiflora – D. myriostachya – D. myurus – D. natalensis – D. nealleyi – D. neesiana – D. neghellensis – D. nematostachya – D. nodosa – D. nuda – D. oraria – D. orbata – D. pampinosa – D. panicea – D. paniculata – D. papposa – D. paraguayensis – D. parodii – D. parva – D. parviflora – D. patagiata – D. patens – D. pauciflora – D. pearsonii – D. pellita – D. pennata – D. perpusilla – D. perrieri – D. perrottetii – D. petelotii – D. phaeothrix – D. phaeotricha – D. philippinensis – D. pinetorum – D. pittieri – D. planiculmis – D. platycarpha – D. poggeana – D. polybotrya – D. polybotryoides – D. polyphylla – D. porrecta – D. procurrens – D. psammophila – D. pseudodiagonalis – D. pubiflora – D. pulchra – D. purpurea – D. pusilla – D. quinhonensis – D. radicosa – D. ramularis – D. redheadii – D. remotigluma – D. rivae – D. rukwae – D. runyonii – D. sabulicola – D. sacchariflora – D. sacculata – D. sanguinalis – D. schmitzii – D. sejuncta – D. sellowii – D. seriata – D. serotina – D. setifolia – D. setigera – D. sharpeana – D. siamensis – D. siderograpta – D. similis – D. simpsonii – D. singularis – D. sparsifructus – D. stenostachya – D. stenotaphrodes – D. stewartiana – D. stricta – D. subcorymbosa – D. subsulcata – D. swalleniana – D. tararensis – D. tenuifolia – D. tenuis – D. ternata – D. texana – D. thouaresiana – D. thwaitesii – D. thyrsoidea – D. tisserantii – D. tomentosa – D. tricholaenoides – D. trinervis – D. ursulae – D. veldkampii – D. velutina – D. venezuelae – D. ventriosa – D. villiculmis – D. villosa – D. violascens – D. wallichiana – D. xanthotricha
Nothospecies: D. x umfolozi
Name

Digitaria Haller, Hist. Stirp. Helv. 2: 244 (1768), nom. cons. vs. Digitaria Heist. ex Fabr. (1759), nom. rej.

Type species: Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop., Fl. Carniol., ed. 2, 1: 52 (1771)

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Sanguinella Gleichen, Neueste Reich. Pfl. 2: 4 (1764), nom. inval.
Syntherisma Walter, Fl. Carol.: 76 (1788).
Acicarpa Raddi, Agrostogr. Bras.: 31 (1823).
Trichachne Nees in C.F.P.von Martius, Fl. Bras. Enum. Pl. 2: 85 (1829).
Gramerium Desv., Mém. Soc. Acad. Maine Loire 1: 165 (1831).
Elytroblepharum (Steud.) Schltdl., Linnaea 26: 533 (1855).
Eriachne Phil., Anales Univ. Chile 36: 207 (1870),nom. illeg.
Sanguinaria Bubani, Fl. Pyren. 4: 256 (1901), nom. superfl.
Leptoloma Chase, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 19: 191 (1906).
Digitariopsis C.E.Hubb., Hooker's Icon. Pl. 35: t. 3420 (1940).
Digitariella De Winter, Bothalia 7: 467 (1961).

References

Haller, A. von (1768) Historia Stirpium Indigenarum Helvetiae Inchoata 2: 244.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2013. Digitaria in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2013 Nov. 6. Reference page.
Simon, B.K., Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T., Vorontsova, M., Brake, I., Healy, D. & Alfonso, Y. 2013. GrassWorld, (Poaceae) Digitaria (Poaceae). Published on the internet. Accessed: 2013 Nov. 6.
Tropicos.org 2013. Digitaria. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2013 Nov. 6.
International Plant Names Index. 2013. Digitaria. Published online. Accessed: 6 Nov. 2013.

Vernacular names
Afrikaans: Vingergrasse
беларуская: Расічка
English: Crabgrasses
suomi: Verihirssit
Türkçe: Yengeç otu

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.

Uses

The seeds are edible, most notably those of fonio (Digitaria exilis and Digitaria iburua), Digitaria sanguinalis, as well as Digitaria compacta. They can be toasted, ground into a flour, made into porridge or fermented to make beer. Fonio has been widely used as a staple crop in parts of Africa. It also has decent nutrient qualities as a forage for cattle.[5][6]
Lawns
Globe icon.

The prevalent species of Digitaria in North America are large crabgrass (D. sanguinalis), sometimes known as hairy crabgrass; and smooth crabgrass (D. ischaemum). These species often become problem weeds in lawns and gardens, growing especially well in thin lawns that are watered lightly, under-fertilized, and poorly drained. 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, expanding outward in a circle up to 30 cm (12 in) in diameter. In the autumn 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.

Biological control is preferable over herbicide use on lawns, as crabgrass emergence is not the cause of poor lawn health but a symptom, and it will return annually if the lawn is not restored with fertilization and proper watering. [7] Crabgrass is quickly outcompeted by healthy lawn grass because, as an annual plant, crabgrass dies off in autumn and needs open conditions for its germination the following spring.
Selected species

Digitaria ammophila (Benth.) Hughes – silky umbrella grass
Digitaria bicornis (Lam.) Roemer & J.A.Schultes ex Loud. – Asian crabgrass
Digitaria brownii (Roem. & Schult.) Hughes – cotton panic grass
Digitaria californica (Benth.) Henrard – Arizona cottontop
Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koeler – summer grass, southern crabgrass
Digitaria cognata (Schult.) Pilg. – fall witchgrass, Carolina crabgrass, mountain hairgrass
Digitaria compacta (Roth ex Roem. & Schult.) Veldkamp
Digitaria cruciata (Nees) A. Camus
Digitaria ctenantha (F.Muell.) Hughes – comb finger grass
Digitaria didactyla Willd. – Queensland blue couch
Digitaria divaricatissima var. macractinia (Benth.) Heather L.Stewart & N.G.Walsh
Digitaria eriantha Steud. – pangolagrass, Smuts finger grass, woolly finger grass
Digitaria exilis (Kippist) Stapf – white fonio
Digitaria filiformis (L.) Koeler – slender crabgrass
Digitaria gracillima (Scribn.) Fernald – longleaf crabgrass
Digitaria horizontalis Willd. – Jamaican crabgrass
Digitaria iburua Stapf – Black fonio
Digitaria insularis (L.) Fedde – sourgrass
Digitaria ischaemum (Schreb.) Schreb. ex Muhl. – smooth crabgrass, small crabgrass, smooth finger grass
Digitaria longiflora (Retz.) Pers. – Indian crabgrass
Digitaria milanjiana (Rendle) Stapf – Madagascar crabgrass
Digitaria nuda Schumacher – naked crabgrass
Digitaria pauciflora Hitchc. – twospike crabgrass
Digitaria platycarpha (Trin.) Stapf
Digitaria petelotii Henrard
Digitaria radicosa (C.Presl) Miq. – trailing crabgrass
Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop. – hairy crabgrass, large crabgrass
Digitaria seriata Stapf – Sandveld fingergrass[8]
Digitaria setigera Roth ex Roemer & J.A.Schultes – East Indian crabgrass
Digitaria serotina (Walt.) Michx. – dwarf crabgrass
Digitaria stenotaphrodes (Nees ex Steud.) Stapf
Digitaria texana A.S.Hitchc. – Texas crabgrass
Digitaria velutina (Forssk.) P.Beauv – velvet crabgrass
Digitaria villosa (Walt.) Pers. – shaggy crabgrass
Digitaria violascens Link – violet crabgrass[9][10]

References

"Genus: Digitaria Haller". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-10-05. Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
Tropicos search for Digitaria
Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
Tropicos, Digitaria Haller
Gilani, S. S., et al. (2003). "Taxonomic relationship of Digitaria in Pakistan". Pakistan Journal of Botany 35(3): 279–282.
Gilani, S. S., et al. (2003)."New subspecies of Digitaria sanguinalis from Pakistan". Pakistan Journal of Botany 35(3): 261–278.
"Weed Killer Guide". 2009.
Klaassen, E.S.; Craven, P. (2003). Checklist of grasses in Namibia, Part 3 (PDF). South African Botanical Diversity Network. ISBN 99916-63-16-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
"Digitaria". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
"GRIN Species Records of Digitaria". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2010-11-06.