Panicum sanguinale Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 57. 1753; Paspa-lum sanguinale (Linnaeus) Lamarck.

Annual. Culms erect or decumbent at base, 10–80 cm tall, glabrous or nodes bearded. Leaf sheaths glabrous or sparsely papillose-pilose; leaf blades linear-lanceolate, 5–20 × 0.4–1.2 cm, glabrous or pilose, margins thickened, scabrous; ligule 1–3 mm. Inflorescence digitate or subdigitate, axis 1–2 cm; racemes 4–12, stiff, 5–18 cm; spikelets paired, overlapping by about 2/3 their length; rachis winged, midrib triquetrous, margins scabrous. Spikelets elliptic-lanceolate, 3–3.5 mm, acute; lower glume small, ca. 0.2 mm, triangular; upper glume lanceolate, 1/3–1/2 spikelet length, 3-veined, pubescent, subacute; lower lemma as long as spikelet, 7-veined, veins evenly spaced or a broader interspace flanking the midvein, midvein smooth, lateral veins setiform-scabrous especially toward the apex, appressed-pubescent on lateral intervein spaces and margins, rarely also setose; upper lemma greenish gray or light brown, lanceolate, as long as spikelet, apex acuminate. Anthers ca. 1 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Sep. 2n = 28, 36.

The scabrous veins of the lower lemma, although a small character requiring a good lens, are the best means of distinguishing this species from Digitaria ciliaris.

This species is a good forage grass.

Fields, roadsides, weedy places. Anhui, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang [warm-temperate and upland subtropical regions throughout the world].