Digitaria eriantha Steud., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Digitaria decumbens Stent; Digitaria pentzii Stent

Common name(s): [more details]

English: common finger grass, digit grass, pangola grass, woolly finger grass

French: digitaria

Spanish: pangola, pasto pangola

Habit:  grass

Description: 

Genus: "Annuals or perennials, usually stoloniferous; culms decumbent, or ascending to erect and tufted.  Sheaths glabrous to pubescent, ligule short, scarious or membranous; blades linear to linear-lanceolate, flat.  Inflorescence composed of racemes, these digitate or borne upon an elongated axis, rarely solitary, sometimes with secondary branches, rachis flat, winged or trigonous; spikelets 2-flowered, in appressed groups of 1-5 or more, first floret reduced to a sterile lemma, often similar in texture to glumes, second floret perfect, lanceolate to oblong-elliptic, dorsiventrally plano-convex; first glume small or absent, second glume membranous, as long as the spikelet, or much shorter and exposing the second lemma; first lemma as long as the spikelet, rarely greatly reduced, membranous, prominently nerved, usually pubescent, the hairs usually in lines between the first and second lateral nerves and along margins; second lemma chartaceous to cartilaginous, finely longitudinally striate, margins flat, hyaline, enfolding and concealing most of the palea, apex subacute to subacuminate, rarely beaked; second palea of similar texture to second lemma, finely 2-nerved, with broad, inflexed edges; stamens 3.  Caryopsis oblong, plano-convex in cross section, usually acute to subacute." (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1530, 1907).

Species:  "Perennial, the culms rooting at nodes, 37-45 cm high; leaf blades and sheaths glabrous, the ligule ciliate, the blades 10-20 cm long, 2-5 mm broad; racemes digitate, 5-7" (Smith, 1979; p. 326).

"A tightly caespitose perennial, often provided with well developed runners; base surrounded by hairy cataphylls and old leaf sheath remnants.  Culms 40-120 cm., ascending to erect, glabrous, nodes dark and glabrous.  Leaf sheaths scaberulous, glabrous or loosely hairy.  Ligule 2-4 mm long, sutriangular, shortly ciliate.  Leaf laminae 5-20 x 0.2-0.4 (0.7) mm, linear, flat to involute, minutely scaberulous on both surfaces, often with a few bulbous based bristles near the base, scabrous along the margins.  Inflorescence composed of 3-10 racemes, 5-20 cm long, erect, (2) 3-6 together in a inferior whorl, sometimes a few solitary along a short common axis, and mostly 2-4 together in a second, superior whorl.  Rachis triquetrous, narrowly winged, up to 0.5 mm broad, smooth to scaberulous, with scabrous margins.  Pedicels 2-nate, 0.5-2.5 mm long, subterete to subtriangular, scabrous, broadened at the apex. Spikelets 2.2-3.5 mm long, oblong.  Inferior glume up to 0.5 mm long, ovate to triangular, sometimes acuminate and ciliate.  Superior glume 1/2 û 2/3 of the spikelet, oblong triangular, 3-nerved, appressed hairy, hairs fine, smooth, acute.  Inferior lemma as long as the spikelet, oblong, 7-nerved, appressed hairy, hairs fine, smooth, acute.  Inferior lemma as long as the spikelet, oblong, 7-nerved, nerves smooth or slightly scaberulous, appressed hairy, with or without bristle-hairs.  Superior lemma somewhat shorter than the spikelet, oblong, acute, yellowish green to pale brown  (Exell et al., 1969; pp. 172-173).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  "It will grow in a range of soils and tolerates drought and high soil acidity.  It does not tolerate prolonged waterlogging or alkaline conditions.  Growth is most prolific in moist, fertile, well drained soil in areas where annual rainfall exceeds 800 mm." (Csurhes & Edwards, 1998; p. 156).

Propagation:  Seed, locally vegetatively (rooting from nodes).

Native range:  Africa.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	introduced	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 326) Cultivated? Voucher cited: DA 15295
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 326) Cultivated? Voucher cited: DA 12315
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (p. 23) Voucher cited: Fagerlund & Mitchell 224 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaho‘olawe Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1530, 1907)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T./Herbst, Derral R. (2003) (p. 17) Voucher cited: C. Corn s.n. (BISH 667056)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (p. 23) Voucher cited: Hosaka 2446 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Oppenheimer, Hank L. (2004) (p. 15) East Maui. Vouchers cited: E.Y. Hosaka 2446 (BISH), Oppenheimer, F. Duvall & P. Baldwin H90204 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (p. 23) Voucher cited: BISH 448178
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 91)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Palau Islands (main island group)		Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim (2010) (p. 15)
Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna (Horne) Islands	Wallis and Futuna Islands		Waterhouse, D. F. (1997) (p. 61)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	introduced cultivated	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 156)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive cultivated	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 156)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Digitaria eriantha is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Digitaria eriantha as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Digitaria eriantha may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. 1998. Potential environmental weeds in Australia: Candidate species for preventative control. Canberra, Australia. Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia. 208 pp.

Exell, A.W. et al., eds. 1979. Flora Zambesiaca 10(3).

Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. 1998. Notes on the grasses of Hawai‘i: new records, corrections, and name changes. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1997. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 55:17-38.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim. 2010. Checklist of the plants of Palau. Unpublished checklist. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawai‘i. 44 pp.

Oppenheimer, Hank L. 2004. New Hawaiian plant records for 2003. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2003. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 79:8-20.

Smith, Albert C. 1979. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 1. 494 pp.

Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T./Herbst, Derral R. 2003. New Hawaiian plant records for 2001. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 74:7-21.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).