Students for Stewardship The Cork Board
← Back to the library

Fingergrass

Digitaria ciliaris (dij-ih-TARE-ree-uh sil-ee-AIR-iss)

Family: Poaceae Non-native

Southern Crabgrass is a clump forming warm season annual grass native to the tropics. It is found in pastures, disturbed sites, or in lawns. It reseeds easily and forms thick mats that are challenging to remove making it a weedy plant. 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 and some of the cultivars, especially Red River, are utilized as summer forage for livestock.

Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗ NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, 44 attributes.

Companions & Conflicts

Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.

No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.

Also noted by NC State

Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.

Often confused with Digitaria sanguinalis

Full plant profile

Growing Conditions
Plant type
Annual; Weed
Life cycle
Annual
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); Sand
Soil drainage
Moist
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
High
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping; Erect; Prostrate; Spreading
Texture
Medium
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Sheath
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Linear
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf size
3-6 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
Yes
Leaf detail
Light green finely ribbed sheaths alternate 6" long and 1/2" wide. Entire margins, hairs at the base on the sheath, linear to linear-ovate in shape.
Flower color
Brown/Copper; Green
Flower form
Insignificant; Raceme
Flower detail
Racemes 8" long straight with a light green rachis (central stem). They form on long stems above the leaves.
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Fruit color
Brown/Copper
Fruit type
Achene
Fruit detail
Seed heads have 2-9 spikelets appear on 1-8 inch long seed heads that produce the small light brown seeds.
Stem detail
Green stems are round to flat
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Non-native
Origin
Tropical and subtropical old world
Distribution
PA south to FL and west to CA in the US
Food & Medicine
Harvest time
Fall; Summer
Fruit type
Achene

Uses (ethnobotany)

Some of the cultivars are used as forage crops for livestock

Landscape Use
Landscape location
Lawn
Garden tags
#annual weed #high maintenance #warm season weed #spreading #lawn weed #forage #weedy
Problems & Resistance
Problems
Weedy

Planted at Hunnicutt

Nobody’s planted this one yet.