Large Crabgrass
Digitaria sanguinalis · Warm-season, Annual, C4
Grass Family
Poaceae, subfamily Panicoideae
Grass Category
Invasive/Weed Grass
Variety / Cultivar
Wild type (no specific named cultivars)
Hardiness Zones
USDA Hardiness Zones 3 through 10, functioning strictly as a summer annual that dies with the first hard frost.
About This Grass
An aggressive summer annual grass with light to medium green, coarse blades and a sprawling growth habit. Height ranges from 6 to 24 inches if left unmowed. Features distinctive finger-like (digitate) raceme seed heads.
Blade Characteristics
Blades are wide (4-10 mm), flat, pointed at the tip, and often sparsely hairy, especially near the base. Vernation is rolled in the bud. Ligule is a membranous structure, and auricles are absent.
Root System
Fibrous and shallow root system with roots forming at nodes touching the soil. High establishment speed from seeds, poor drought tolerance without summer water, turns brown with first frost.
Growing Information
Origin Region
Native to Europe and temperate Asia, now naturalized worldwide in temperate and tropical regions
Growth Habit
Stoloniferous and prostrate to ascending, spreading rapidly along the ground and rooting at the lower nodes
Sunlight & Water Needs
Requires full sun and thrives in hot conditions. Moderate to high water needs; goes dormant or dies back in severe drought. Prefers disturbed, compacted soils with a wide pH range.
Mowing & Maintenance
Mow low (1.5 to 2.5 inches) to suppress seed head formation. High maintenance as a weed requiring pre-emergent herbicides in spring, hand-pulling, or post-emergent selective herbicides.
Special Characteristics
Low wear tolerance under heavy traffic, highly invasive in thin turfgrass lawns, excellent at colonizing bare soil and disturbed areas, zero winter color retention.
Ecological Information
Considered a noxious weed in managed lawns and turf, but seeds provide a food source for ground-feeding birds. Helps stabilize eroding bare soils temporarily before desirable vegetation can establish.