Gen info
- While crabgrass is, perhaps, the most hated grass in the Western World as most dread lawn invader, in parts of Africa it is used as a nutritious staple grain and as forage. It is one of the fastest growing cereals, producing edible seeds in six to eight weeks, 150,000 seeds per plant, a whopping 17 tons per acre.
- Crabgrass was cultivated by Stone Age dwellers in Switzerland. It was an important food crop in China by 2700 BC, and a traditional food in India and Africa. Imported by the U.S. in 1849 as forage for cattle, later, various immigrant populations also relied on it as traditional grains. (4)

Botany
Crab grass is a annual, fast-growing to a height of 1 to 3 feet, with branching culms at the base. Roots are fibrous, sometimes forming from the nodes of the lower culms. The lower branches of the culms sprawl across the ground, while the upper branches are more erect. Culms are light green, teret, and glabrous, mostly covered by sheaths. Sheaths are light green, finely ribbed, shiny or dull, and hairy. Leaves are soft and smooth, hairy neary the base, 4 to 8 millimeters wide and an open hairy sheath around the stem. Leaf blades are 4 to 15 centimeters long, 4 to 13 millimeters wide. Leaf blade is green to purple, with silky, shiny hairs. Central stalk of each raceme is light green, flattened, and about 1 millimeters across, with many pairs of one-flowered spikelets along the length of each raceme. Lemmas (the lower bract of the floret of a grass) are flat and enclose a single developing grain. Each grain is ovoid and flattened. (5)

Distribution
- Introduced.
- Ubiquitous lawn and garden invader; waste areas.

Constituents
- Crabgrass harvest may potentially yield more than 15% crude protein and 60% total digestible nutrients (TDN).
- Studies on chemical composition have yielded (%DM) crude protein 12.0 - 19.2 %, total condensed tannin 0.12 - 0.20 %, soluble sugar 5.7 - 6.3 %, NDF 44.2 - 52.3 %, OMD 71.2 - 76.4 %. (9)
- Study on digestibility (IVDMD) and metabolizing energy (ME) study yielded 59.3% and 7.99% at early bloom, respectively, and 42.6% and 5.52% at maturity, respectively. (10)
- Study on mineral constituents showed 28.6 DM%, 0.24% Ca, 0.013% P, 0.78% K, 0.007% Mg, 16.5 ppm Cu, 3.5 ppm Zn, 7.5 ppm Mn, 0.05 ppm Co. (10)

Toxicity
- Leaves might be cyanogenic.

Parts used
Whole plant.

Uses
EdibilitY / Nutrition
- Seeds may be ground up and used as flour. The fine white flour can be used for semolina.
- Compared to other grains, it has relatively high protein content.
Folkloric
- Decoction of plant used in treatment of gonorrhea.
- Used as folk remedy for cataracts and debility. Also, said to be emetic.
Others
- Fiber: Fiber from the plant can be used for making paper.
- Forage: Has excellent quality and palatibility.

Studies
• Nutritive Analysis: Of the subtropical grasses, summer grass yields highest nutritive value. It was also notable as having the lowest NDF level (44-52% DM) and highest OMD (71-76% DM), indicating it would have the least effect on pasture nutritive value. (see constituents above) (9)
• Digestibility / Mineral Analysis: Study on digestibility (IVDMD) and metabolizing energy (ME) study yielded 59.3% and 7.99% at early bloom, respectively, and 42.6% and 5.52% at maturity, respectively. (see constituents above)  (10)

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Digitaria sanguinalis / Wikipedia
(2)
Digitaria sanguinalis / Plants For A Future
(3)
Digitaria sanguinalis / Synonyms / The Plant List
(4)
Crabgrass Was King / Green Deane / EatTheWeeds
(5)
Crab grass (Digitaria sanguinalis) complete detail – updated / Vijay Choudhary / August 4, 2016 / Abhinac Nature Conservation
(6)
Digitaria sanguinalis / Common names / Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk--PIER
(7)
Large crabgrass / Invasive Species Compendium
(8)
Crabgrass as a Forage and Hay Crop / A. R. Blount, D. M. Ball, R. K. Sprenkel, R. O. Myer, and T. D. Hewitt / EDIS
(9)
Nutritive value of subtropical grasses invading North Island pastures / FELICITY S. JACKSON’, W.C. McNABB, J.S. PETERS, T.N. BARRY’, B.D. CAMPBELL and M.J. ULYATT / Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association 57: 203-206 (1996) 203
(10)
MINERAL PROFILE, PALATABILITY AND DIGESTIBILITY OF MARGINAL LAND GRASSES OF TRANS-HIMALAYAN GRASSLANDS OF PAKISTAN / INAM-UR-RAHIM, JAVED IQBAL SULTAN, MUHAMMAD YAQOOB, HAQ NAWAZ, IJAZ JAVED AND MANSOOR HAMEED / Pak. J. Bot., 40(1): 237-248, 2008.