Description
Synonymy - This is a partial list; Hitchcock and Chase (1950) list 20 synonyms.
Potentially Misidentified Species- Digitaria ischaemum (Smooth Crabgrass) is introduced and common in lawns and disturbed upland areas (Hitchcock and Chase 1950). Digitaria serotina is native, and more of a true wetland plant (Godfrey and Wooten 1979).
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plantae | Magnoliophyta | Liliopsida | Cyperales | Poaceae | Digitaria |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1739 | Established | Stable | Introduced | Boundary Resident | Europe | Eurasia | Shipping(Dry Ballast), Agriculture(Agricultural Weed) |
History of Spread
Digitaria sanguinalis (Hairy Crabgrass), of Eurasian origin (Hitchcock and Chase 1950), was among colonial (before 1753) MD herbarium specimens listed by Brown et al. (1987), and collected by John Clayton in VA in the 1730's (Gronovius 1739; Reveal 1983). It was listed by Pursh (1814) as 'common in cultivated ground', and by Gray (1848) as 'everywhere naturalized in cultivated grounds, troublesome in gardens.' Presumably it came to North America with seed, farm implements, etc., and followed the spread of European methods of cultivation closely. It is now widespread across the United States, though more common in the east and north (Hitchcock and Chase 1950; Natural Resources Conservation Service 1998).
Digitaria sanguinalis was listed for Baltimore by Aikin (1837) and for the District of Columbia by Brereton (1830), and by all subsequent Washington D.C.-Baltimore floras. It is found in nearly all VA counties, and also widespread in MD, and is an abundant and troublesome weed in lawns and gardens (Brown and Brown 1984; Harvill et al. 1992). It was reported from tidal marshes by Wass (1972,; from disturbed areas of Hamilton Marshes, on the Delaware River NJ (Leck et al. 1988) and from beach margins in Kent County MD (Krauss et al. 1971), King George County VA (Simmons et al. 1995), and likely elsewhere. It probably is occasional, but widespread at the edges of disturbed intertidal areas (Whigham 1995).
History References - Aikin 1837; Brereton 1830; Gray 1848; Gronovius 1739; Harvill et al. 1992; Hitchcock and Chase 1950; Krauss et al. 1971; Leck et al. 1988; Natural Resources Conservation Service 1998; Pursh 1814; Reveal 1983; Wass 1972; Whigham 1995
Invasion Comments
Invasion Status- The USDA Plants database (Natural Resources Consevation Service 2001) calls this plant 'native' to the U.S, but most other available sources (e.g, Fernald 1950, Gleason and Cronquist 1991, Hitchock and Chase 1950, etc.), call it 'Introduced'.
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | ||||
| Salinity (‰) | 0.0 | 0.0 | ||
| Oxygen | ||||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | fresh-meso |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | ||
| Typical Longevity (yrs |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
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| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
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| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
|||
| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
Digitaria sanguinalis (Hairy Crabgrass) probably has no impacts in the tidal waters and wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay proper, except possibly from herbicides used to control it in lawns and fields, where it is a troublesome weed (Brown and Brown 1984).
References- Brown and Brown 1984
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
Digitaria sanguinalis (Hairy Crabgrass) is a widespread weed of lawns, gardens, and fields throughout the United States (Agricultural Research Service 1971; Hitchcock and Chase 1950).
References- Agricultural Research Service 1971; Hitchcock and Chase 1950
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
Digitaria sanguinalis (Hairy Crabgrass) is an abundant weed in disturbed upland areas of the watershed (Brown and Brown 1984; Hitchcock and Chase 1950), but probably has few impacts on native biota in tidal wetlands.
References- Brown and Brown 1984; Hitchcock and Chase 1950
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
Digitaria sanguinalis (Hairy Crabgrass) is an abundant weed in disturbed upland areas of the watershed (Brown and Brown 1984; Hitchcock and Chase 1950), but probably has few impacts on exotic biota in tidal wetlands.
References- Brown and Brown 1984; Hitchcock and Chase 1950
References
Agricultural Research Service (1971) Common weeds of the United States., In: (Eds.) . , Washington, D.C.. Pp.Aikin, W. E. A. (1837) Catalogue of phenogamous plants and ferns, native or naturalized, growing in the vicinity of Baltimore, Maryland., Transactions of the Maryland Academy of Sciences and Literature 1: 55-91
Brereton, J. A. (1830) Prodromus of the Flora Columbiana, , Washington, D.C.. Pp.
Brown, Melvin L.; Brown, Russell G. (1984) Herbaceous Plants of Maryland, , College Park. Pp.
Brown, Melvin L.; Reveal, J. L; Broome, C. R.; Frick, George F. (1987) Comments on the vegetation of colonial Maryland, Huntia 7: 247-283
Fernald, Merritt L. (1950) Gray's Manual of Botany, In: (Eds.) . , New York. Pp.
Gleason, Henry A.; Cronquist, Arthur (1991) Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, In: (Eds.) . , Bronx, New York. Pp.
Godfrey, R. K.; Wooten, Jean W. (1979) Aquatic and Wetland Plants of the Southeastern United States: Monocotyledones., In: (Eds.) . , Athens. Pp.
Gray, Asa (1848) A manual of botany of the northern United States., In: (Eds.) . , Boston. Pp.
Gronovius, Johannes Fredericius (1739) Flora Virginica exhibens plantas quas V. C. Johannes Clayton in Virginia observavit atque collegit., , London. Pp.
Harvill, A. M.; Bradley, Ted R.; Stevens, Charles E.; Wieboldt, Thomas F.; Ware, Donna M. E.; Ogle, Douglas W.; Ramsey, Gwynn W.; Fleming, Gary P. (1992) Atlas of the Virginia Flora, , Burkeville, VA. Pp.
Hitchcock, A. S.; Chase, Agnes (1950) Manual of Grasses of the United States., In: (Eds.) . , Washington, D.C.. Pp.
Krauss, R.W.; Brown, R. G.; Rappleye, R. D.; Owens, A. B.; Shearer, C.; Hsiao, E.; Reveal, J. (1971) Checklist of plant species occurring within the hightide limits of the Chesapeake Bay, and its tributaries., , College Park, Maryland. Pp.
Leck, Mary A.; Simpson, Robert L.; Whigham, Dennis F., Leck, Charles F. (1988) Plants of the Hamilton marshes, a Delaware River freshwater tidal wetland, Bartonia 54: 1-17
1997-2024 USDA PLANTS Database.. Onine databse
Pursh, Frederick (1814) Flora Americae Septentrionalis or, a Systematic Arrangement and Description of the Plants of North America, , Hirschburg. Pp.
Resource Management Inc. (1993) National list of plant species that occur in wetlands., , Minneapolis.. Pp.
Reveal, James L. (1983) Significance of pre-1753 botanical explorations in temperate North America on Linnaeus' first edition of Species Plantarum, Phytologia 53: 1-96
Simmons, Mark P.; Ware, Donna M.; Hayden, W. John (1995) The vascular flora of the Potomac River watershed of King George County, Virginia, Castanea 60: 179-209
Wass, Melvin L. (1972) A checklist of the biota of lower Chesapeake Bay, Special Scientific Report, Virginia Institute of Marine Science 65: 1-290
1995 Conversation with Paul Fofonoff, Introduced plants in Chesapeake Bay..