Shaggy Crabgrass
Digitaria villosa
Found in longleaf pine sandhills, dry pine flatwoods, glades, dry prairies, dry hammocks, dunes, sandy fields, roadsides, other disturbed habitats. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- Up to about 5 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- September to October
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 11 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
26CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Digitaria
- Abagrotis magnicupidaOne-Dotted Dart
- Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
- Anicla infectaGreen Cutworm Moth
- Atalopedes huronSachem
- Dargida rubripennisThe Pink-Streak
- Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
- Fissicrambus mutabilisStriped Webworm, Striped Sodworm, Changeable Grass-Veneer
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Hesperia sassacusIndian Skipper
- Hylephila phyleusFiery Skipper
Show all 26
- Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
- Leucania subpunctataWhite-Dotted Wainscot, Forage Armyworm
- Leucania ursulaUrsula Wainscot
- Lon zabulonZabulon Skipper
- Maliattha synochitisBlack-Dotted Lithacodia, Black-Dotted Glyph, Brass-Dotted Grass Moth
- Marimatha nigrofimbriaBlack-Bordered Lemon
- Mocis texanaTexas Mocis
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Polites othoSouthern Broken-Dash, Broken-Dash Skipper
- Polites themistoclesTawny-Edged Skipper
- Protodeltote muscosulaLarge Mossy Lithacodia, Large Mossy Glyph, Large Mossy Grass Moth
- Redectis vitreaWhite-Spotted Redactis
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Trichordestra legitimaStriped Garden Caterpillar Moth
- Xestia smithiiSmith's Dart
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
21BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Digitaria
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Anthus rubescensAmerican Pipit
- Calcarius lapponicusLapland Longspur
- Calcarius pictusSmith's Longspur
- Cardinalis cardinalisNorthern Cardinal
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Columba liviaRock Pigeon
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Melospiza melodiaSong Sparrow
- Melozone crissalisCalifornia Towhee
Show all 21
- Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
- Peucaea aestivalisBachman's Sparrow
- Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
- Porzana carolinaSora
- Quiscalus quisculaCommon Grackle
- Spizella passerinaChipping Sparrow
- Spizella pusillaField Sparrow
- Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling
- Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
- Vireo belliiBell's Vireo
- Vireo olivaceusRed-eyed Vireo
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
- Flower color
- Green or brown
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “September to October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Green or brown” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 5 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Digitaria filiformis var. villosa
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications