Digitaria ischaemum

Smooth crab grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Smooth crab grass is a naturalized annual grass found in northern coastal, southern Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, central coastal, southern coastal, and desert regions in disturbed areas at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from September to November, this plant produces purple spikelets less than 3 millimeters long arranged in multiple spreading branches. Growing with decumbent or ascending stems 15 to 50 centimeters tall that root at lower nodes, it spreads easily in disturbed ground. Its leaf blades are 1.5 to 12 centimeters long, 2.5 to 5 millimeters wide, with glabrous upper surfaces and smooth leaf sheaths. The plant's distinctive purple spikelets cluster along narrow-winged branch axes, making it easily recognizable in disturbed landscapes.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Sep-Nov

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: NCoRO, NCoRH, s SN, GV, CCo, SCo, D

California counties: Alameda, Butte, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Ventura, Yolo, Orange, Marin, Sonoma, Sacramento, Napa, Santa Barbara, Siskiyou, Merced, Nevada, Madera, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Glenn, Plumas, Mariposa, Colusa, San Luis Obispo, Placer, Tehama, Tulare

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.