WildBristol.uk - Discovering Wildlife in Bristol

Stace 4:

Digitaia sanguinalis (L.) Scop. - Hairy Finger-grass.

Culms decumbent to erect, to 50cm, often hairy on sheaths and leaves; racemes (2)4-16, 3-16cm; (2n=18, 28, 36-48, 54, 76). Neophyte-naturalised; weed of similar habitats to D. ischaemum, sometimes naturalised, but commoner as a birdseed-, wool- or soyabean-alien and less common in cultivated ground; occasional in South Britain and Channel Islands, scattered North to Central Scotland, County Antrim, once rare but now much commoner than D. ischaemum; South Europe.

Key:

• Lower lemma with minutely scabrid veins (x20 lens), rarely hairy at edges; upper glume 1/3-1/2(2/3) as long as spikelet, rather abruptly acute
• Upper glume ≤3/4 as long as lower lemma; spikelets 2.5-3.5(3.8)mm, sparsely appressed-hairy; sheaths usually hairy, sometimes not; pedicels often slightly thicker near apex but simply truncate