Which weed is described as a sprawling warm-season annual with broad, lighter-green blades and is common in turf?

Which weed is described as a sprawling warm-season annual with broad, lighter-green blades and is common in turf?

• A. Annual bluegrass (Poa annua)
• B. Crabgrass (Digitaria)
• C. Goosegrass (Eleusine indica)
• D. Nimblewill (Muhlenbergia)

Answer: (B)

Think about how the weed grows and when it appears. The description points to crabgrass: a warm-season annual that sprawls across the turf, sending out prostrate stems that root at the nodes and form a broad, light-green mat. Since it’s an annual, it completes its life cycle in one growing season and dies after frost, with new plants emerging from seeds each year. The combination of warm-season germination, a creeping, ground-hugging habit, and broad, lighter-green blades is distinctively crabgrass, making it the best match. Annual bluegrass is a cool-season annual and tends to grow more upright in tufts; nimblewill is a warm-season perennial that spreads via runners and persists year after year; goosegrass can be similar but has a different growth form and blade texture compared with crabgrass.

Think about how the weed grows and when it appears. The description points to crabgrass: a warm-season annual that sprawls across the turf, sending out prostrate stems that root at the nodes and form a broad, light-green mat. Since it’s an annual, it completes its life cycle in one growing season and dies after frost, with new plants emerging from seeds each year. The combination of warm-season germination, a creeping, ground-hugging habit, and broad, lighter-green blades is distinctively crabgrass, making it the best match. Annual bluegrass is a cool-season annual and tends to grow more upright in tufts; nimblewill is a warm-season perennial that spreads via runners and persists year after year; goosegrass can be similar but has a different growth form and blade texture compared with crabgrass.