Small Crabgrass Digitaria ischaemum
Other Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- dij-ih-TARE-ree-uh IS-kah-mum
- Description
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Smooth Crabgrass is a summer annual grass in the Poaceae family. This warm season lawn and garden weed germinates in the spring and grows through the summer producing seed. The seed germinates in the late winter to early spring. It has a ground-hugging clumping habit and can root in the ground at its leaf nodes making it very hard to pull up as it grows. To manage the weed try to hand weed it when it is small before it has sent down secondary roots. Mulching garden beds can slow germination. It is killed off by frost.
This plant is found in disturbed areas, lawns, meadows, sidewalk cracks and along roads in most states of the US. It tends to prefer heavier soils and tolerates full sun, part shade, heat and drought.
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Digitaria
- Species:
- ischaemum
- Family:
- Poaceae
- Life Cycle:
- Annual
- Recommended Propagation Strategy:
- Seed
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Central Europe, Japan
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Annual
- Weed
- Habit/Form:
- Ascending
- Prostrate
- Spreading
- Growth Rate:
- Rapid
- Maintenance:
- High
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- Loam (Silt)
- Shallow Rocky
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Moist
- Occasionally Dry
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Purple/Lavender
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Summer
- Fruit Type:
- Achene
- Fruit Length:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Description:
- The spikelets turn brown to purplish and form dark brown to black oval seeds.
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Flowers:
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Insignificant
- Raceme
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Fall
- Summer
- Flower Description:
- Flower clusters form at the end of flowering stems with small egg-shaped spikelets that are generally in pairs up the stem.
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Leaves:
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Type:
- Sheath
- Leaf Shape:
- Linear
- Leaf Margin:
- Entire
- Hairs Present:
- Yes
- Leaf Length:
- 3-6 inches
- Leaf Width:
- < 1 inch
- Leaf Description:
- Flat green leaves are up to 4 inches long and 1/4 inch wide. Hairs are present on the sheath base. The ridged sheaths are open at the front and often have a few long hairs.
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Cross Section:
- Round
- Stem Surface:
- Smooth (glabrous)
- Stem Description:
- Stems are light green to purple near the base. The lower stems are mostly covered by sheaths.
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Landscape:
- Problems:
- Weedy
