Crabgrass facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Crabgrass |
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| Digitaria sanguinalis | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Subfamily: | Panicoideae |
| Supertribe: | Panicodae |
| Tribe: | Paniceae |
| Subtribe: | Anthephorinae |
| Genus: | Digitaria Haller 1768, conserved name not Heist. ex Fabr. 1759 nor Scop. 1772 nor Adans. 1763 |
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Digitaria is a group of plants in the grass family. You might know them by common names like crabgrass, finger-grass, or fonio. These grasses grow in many parts of the world, especially in warm areas. They get their name Digitaria from the Latin word "digitus," which means "finger." This is because their flower parts often look like long, thin fingers. Some types of Digitaria are grown for food, while others are seen as weeds in lawns.
What is Digitaria Used For?
Some types of Digitaria plants have seeds that people can eat. The most famous ones are fonio (Digitaria exilis and Digitaria iburua), Digitaria sanguinalis, and Digitaria compacta.
People can toast these seeds and grind them into flour. This flour can be used to make porridge or even fermented to make beer. Fonio has been a very important main food for many people in parts of Africa. It is also good food for farm animals like cattle.
Crabgrass in Lawns
In places like North America, two common types of Digitaria are large crabgrass and smooth crabgrass. These plants often become unwanted weeds in lawns and gardens. They grow very well in lawns that are not watered enough, do not get enough plant food, or have poor drainage.
Crabgrass plants are annuals, meaning they live for only one growing season. A single plant can make as many as 150,000 seeds in a season! These seeds sprout in late spring and early summer. The new crabgrass plants can grow quickly, spreading out in a circle up to about 30 centimeters (12 inches) wide. When autumn comes, these plants die, leaving empty spots in the lawn. These empty spots are perfect places for new crabgrass seeds to grow the next year.
To keep crabgrass away, it's best to make your lawn healthy. Crabgrass grows because the lawn is not strong enough. If you fertilize your lawn and water it properly, the healthy grass will grow thick and strong. This makes it harder for crabgrass seeds to sprout and grow. Since crabgrass dies every autumn, a healthy lawn can easily outcompete it the following spring.
Types of Digitaria Plants
There are many different kinds of Digitaria plants around the world. Here are a few examples:
- Digitaria bicornis – Asian crabgrass
- Digitaria brownii – cotton panic grass
- Digitaria ciliaris – summer grass, southern crabgrass
- Digitaria didactyla – Queensland blue couch
- Digitaria eriantha – pangolagrass
- Digitaria exilis – white fonio
- Digitaria ischaemum – smooth crabgrass
- Digitaria sanguinalis – hairy crabgrass, large crabgrass
- Digitaria violascens – violet crabgrass
See also
In Spanish: Digitaria para niños
