Digitaria sanguinalis — hairy crabgrass

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  0.5–0.9 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has no awn

  Bristles below spikelets

  no

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret number

  1–2

  Floret types within spikelet

  • NA
  • there are at least two distinct forms of florets within one spikelet

  Glume awn length

  0 mm

  Glume keel

  • the glume keels are rough or hairy
  • the glume keels are smooth and hairless

  Glume relative length

  neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets

  Glume shape

  the glume is flat or curved in cross-section

  Glume veins

  • 0
  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7 or more

  Glumes per spikelet

  2

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis hairs

  the inflorescence axis is rough and feels like sand-paper

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branch length

  3–30 cm

  Inflorescence branches

  the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence crowding

  the panicle is somewhat to very spread out, with clearly-evident branches

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched and the branches all grow from the same side of the plant and look like spikes

  Inforescence position

  • the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem
  • the spikelets are mainly found at the nodes, in the axils of leaves, along the stem

  Lemma awn base

  NA

  Lemma awn coiled

  NA

  Lemma awn length

  0 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has no awn

  Lemma awn orientation

  NA

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is flat or rounded if you cut across the midpoint

  Lemma hairs

  the lemma is hairless between the veins

  Lemma keel hairs

  the keel of the lemma is rough, or has fine hairs

  Lemma marginal vein hairs

  the marginal vein of the lemma is hairless

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma tip

  the lemma tip is a simple point, with or without an awn (long narrow extension ending in a point)

  Lemma tip shape

  the lemma tip tapers to a narrow point (it may or may not also have an awn or teeth at the tip)

  Lemma vein number

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7 or more

  Lower glume length

  0.2–0.4 mm

  Lower glume relative length

  the lower glume is one third or less as long as the upper glume

  One or more florets

  • there is more than one floret per spikelet
  • there is one floret per spikelet

  Palea length

  2.8–3.2 mm

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant have both carpels and stamens (synoecious)

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is no extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet disintegration

  the spikelet breaks off below the glumes

  Spikelet length

  1.7–3.4 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  0

  Spikelet pedicel

  the spikelets have pedicels

  Spikelet position

  the spikelets emerge from both the upper and lower halves of the inflorescence branches

  Spikelet width

  0.7–1.1 mm

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Tip of glume

  the tip of the glume is not divided (though it may have an awn on it)

  Upper glume length

  0.9–2 mm

  Upper glume relative length

  the upper glume is up to one half as long as the lowest lemma

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Fruits or seeds

  Seed length

  2–2.2 mm

• Growth form

  Horizontal rooting stem

  no

  Lifespan

  the plant lives only a single year or less

  Rhizomes

  no

  Roots

  there are only slender roots on the plant

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section, or slightly folded or rolled inwards

  Leaf blade hairs

  • the leaf blade is hairless, but it may have tiny prickles that give it a sand-papery feel
  • the leaf blade is hairy

  Leaf blade length

  2–14 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery

  Leaf blade width

  3–12 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  0.5–2.6 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane

  Leaf margin glands

  there are no glands along the edges of the leaf blade

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

  Leaf sheath hair type

  there are hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath, and some of the hairs have blisters at their bases

  Leaf sheath hairs

  there are hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  man-made or disturbed habitats

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Hairs at nodes

  the stem nodes have hairs that stand out at a shallow angle, or they curve downwards

  Plant height

  20–112 cm

  Roots at lower stem nodes

  yes

  Stem hairs

  the stem has hairs on it

  Stem orientation

  • the stems trail along the ground or on other plants through most or all of their length
  • the stems trail at the base, but turn upwards at the tips

Wetland status

Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but occasionally in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACU)

In New England

From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key