Digitaria ischaemum
Smooth crabgrass, fingergrass, twitchgrass
Description: summer annual
Place of origin: Europe
Urban habitat: drought tolerant, common in trampled lawns, highway banks and median strips, small pavement openings and sidewalk cracks.
Ecological functions: disturbance-adapted colonizer of bare ground; tolerant of contaminated and compacted soil.
History: Digitaria ischaemum was once used as a forage grass in the south where cool-season grasses did not grow well. A decoction of the plant has been used for treatment of gonorrhea, as remedy for cataracts, debility, and to induce vomiting.