Plantinvasivekruger - Poaceae - Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.

DIGSA

Poaceae

Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.

Digitaria sanguinalis is a sparse, tufted decumbent annual grass with weak and spreading, hollow stems, to 1 m long or more, usually rooting at the lower nodes, the erect portions up to 60 cm tall. The sheaths are shorter than the internodes and pubescent. The ligule is a thin, truncate membrane, 1-2 mm long, hairless and irregularly dissected. The leaf blades are soft and flat, 5-10 mm wide, pubescent on one or both surfaces to nearly glabrous. The inflorescence consists of 4-9 erect or spreading, digitate racemes at the apex of the stem and sometimes below. The rachis is narrowly winged. Spikelets, 3 mm long, are born in pairs, one stalked and the other stalkless; they are green or purple-tinged.

A sparse, tufted decumbent grass with weak and spreading, hollow stems, to 1 m long or more, usually rooting at the lower nodes, the erect portions up to 60 cm tall.

Fibrous roots, reaching deep into the ground (down to 2 m).

First glume a minute, triangular scale or absent, second glume 3/4 as long as fruit; sterile lemma slightly longer; usually villous. Lower lemma of both sessile and pediceled spikelets with 5 unequally spaced nerves, the lateral crowded to the margins, the midnerve with a wide space on either side.

Mostly occurs in regions with a moderate climate (not in tropical regions). Usually growing as a weed of moist, disturbed sites, particularly in gardens, cultivated lands and ditches.

Probably originated from Europe.

A major weed of crops and gardens in most areas, particularly the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, the Highveld and the Eastern Cape. A serious problem in maize, where it competes vigorously for available moisture.

-Bromilow C. 2010. Problem plants and alien weeds of South Africa. Pretoria: Briza Publications. p. 79.
-Henderson Johan G. & Henderson Mayda. 1966. Common Weeds in South Africa. Botanical survey, Memoir No. 37. Botanical Research Institute, South Africa. P. 22.
- Kissman KG, Groth D. 1997. Plantas infestantes e nocivas - Tomo I. São Paolo: BASF, S. A. p. 516-519.
-Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER).
- Russell Gibbs G.E., et al. 1955. Grasses of southern Africa. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of southern Africa. National Botanic Gardens, Botanical Research Institute, South Africa. P. 113.
-Swaziland Alien Species Database.
- Van Oudtshoorn, Frits. 2012. Common grasses of South Africa. 3rd ed. Briza Publications, Pretoria, South Africa. P. 221.

http://www.hear.org/pier/species/digitaria_sanguinalis.htm
http://www.sntc.org.sz/alienplants/speciesinfo.asp?spid=7