Crabgrass
Digitaria sanguinalis · Warm-season, annual, C4 grass
Grass Family
Poaceae, subfamily Panicoideae, tribe Paniceae
Grass Category
Invasive/Weed Grass, Lawn/Turf Weed
Variety / Cultivar
Wild type (smooth crabgrass Digitaria ischaemum or large crabgrass Digitaria sanguinalis)
Hardiness Zones
Thrives across USDA Hardiness Zones 3 through 10 as a warm-season summer annual, dying off completely with the first hard frost.
About This Grass
An aggressive, coarse-textured annual grass with a sprawling, light to medium green appearance. Unmowed, it can reach 12 to 24 inches in height, but it easily evades low mowing by growing horizontally. Produces distinctive finger-like (digitate) raceme seed heads in late summer.
Blade Characteristics
Blades are medium to coarse in width (3-10 mm), flat, pointed at the tips, light green to bluish-green, rolled in the bud (vernation). Features a membranous ligule and lacks auricles. The collar region is broad and hairy.
Root System
Shallow, fibrous root system with nodes that easily root when in contact with damp soil, allowing it to rapidly colonize bare spots and thin turf areas. High establishment speed from prolific seed production.
Growing Information
Origin Region
Native to Europe and parts of Asia, now widely naturalized globally in temperate and tropical regions
Growth Habit
Stoloniferous and spreading prostrate mat-forming habit, rooting at the lower nodes
Sunlight & Water Needs
Requires full sun and thrives in hot, dry, compacted soils with infrequent watering. Highly drought-tolerant in terms of survival via seed, though vegetative growth prefers moist soils.
Mowing & Maintenance
Hard to control via mowing alone due to its low-growing lateral habit. Requires pre-emergent herbicide application in early spring, proper turf density management, and hand-pulling for control. High maintenance as a weed.
Special Characteristics
Exceptional ability to invade thin lawns, tolerate high heat, heavy foot traffic compaction, and low mowing heights. Produces thousands of seeds per plant, making it a persistent weed.
Ecological Information
Introduced invasive weed in North American turfgrass systems. Provides minimal forage value for wildlife compared to native grasses and disrupts managed monoculture lawns by outcompeting desirable turf species.