Violet Crabgrass

Digitaria violascens

Found in sandy fields, roadsides, and woodland borders. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 59%

Light: Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture: Dry to wet

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At a glance

Bloom: September to October

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Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 5 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.

Named place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Habitats

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground; forest edges and thickets.

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

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

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

—Specialist 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

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Poaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope

Bloom · “September to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia

Also known as

Digitaria ischaemum var. violascens

Conservation status

Virginia rank	Not available
Global rank	GNR
VA status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

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