Digitaria insularis (L.) Mez ex E.Ekman

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Poaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Digitaria insularis (L.) Mez ex Ekman

  • Description

    Species Description - Perennial herb, lacking stolons; flowering culms 4-13 dm tall, erect, sparingly branched. Leaf sheaths usually hairy; ligule 2-6 mm long; blades linear, flat, 20-60 x 0.8-1.7 cm, scabrous, glabrous on the upper surface. Inflorescence oblong; main axis 20-35 mm long; primary branches 4-15 cm long. Spikelets paired, ovate, 4-5 x 1-1.3 mm , covered with long silky hairs; lower glume 0.4-0.7 mm long, nerveless; upper glume 3.5-4.5 mm long, 3-5-nerved; lemma of lower floret lanceolate, 7-nerved, muticous, the palea absent; lemma of upper floret lanceolate, chartaceous, muricate, brown, 3.2-3.6 mm long, muticous.

    Distribution and Ecology - Common roadside weed. Bordeaux (A3800); Center Line Road (A2619), Maho Bay (A1943). Also on St. Thomas; throughout tropical and subtropical America.