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Carolina foxtail | The wild thing for the week of 1/12/09
To control goosegrass, dig it up. In the spring, apply pre-emergence herbicides one to two weeks prior to germination. If small weeds have already emerged, use postemergence herbicides.
Goosegrass, Eleusine indica, is a common warm-season annual weed that is often confused with crabgrass. It can be distinguished from crabgrass by its dark green color, white base and its habit of growing in tufts. Goosegrass germinates several weeks after crabgrass, usually in early to mid-May. It can be found in lawns, gardens and roadsides, and it thrives in hard, compacted sites.
The stems of seedling goosegrass are flattened, and the ligule is a short membrane. There are a few hairs in the collar region. Leaf blades are smooth and folded. Stems of mature plants can be up to 2 feet tall, but often are prostrate, as if they have been stepped on repeatedly. The stems do not root at the node. Leaves are 3 inches to 12 inches long. Goosegrass tillers in a spoke-like fashion and the tillers are flattened and whitish at the base. The seedhead is fingerlike, like crabgrass, but each "finger" has a zipper-like appearance. One plant can produce 50,000 seeds.