dallisgrass

Dallisgrass (Paspalum dilatatum), Photo: Kevin Mathias, UMD

Updated: March 2, 2023

Life cycle 

A perennial grass.

Growth habit

Dallisgrass grows in spreading clumps. It has a coarse texture. Leaf blades are a yellow-green color, about ½-inch wide, and have a prominent mid-rib. 

Reproduction

Spreads by seeds and short, thick rhizomes.

Conditions that favor growth

Adapts to areas of poor drainage.

Photos

Growth habit

Dallisgrass growing in a lawn

Photo: John D. Byrd, Mississippi State University, Bugwood.org

Ligule

Dallisgrass has a pointed, membranous ligule

Photo: John D. Byrd, Mississippi State University, Bugwood.org

Flowers

Flower stalks have 3 to 5 or more loose spike-like branches

Photo: Rebekah D. Wallace, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org

Leaf blades

Dallisgrass leaf blades

Photo: Rebekah D. Wallace, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org

Roots

Roots of dallisgrass. Clumps of this plant expand by short rhizomes.

Photo: Rebekah D. Wallace, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org

 

 

Management In lawns

Lawn care practices

Maintain healthy, dense turf that can compete and prevent weed establishment. Correct areas of poor drainage.

Lawn Care

Mechanical management

Hand pulling or using an appropriate weeding tool to dig out the weed are the primary means of mechanical weed control. This is a viable option at the beginning of an infestation and on young weeds. Hand pulling when the soil is moist makes the task easier. 

Manage Weeds Without Chemicals

Chemical management

Certain postemergent herbicides labeled to kill crabgrass are also labeled for dallisgrass control. Check product labels. Small infestations can be dug out or sprayed with a non-selective herbicide that contains glyphosate. Reseed the area after you are certain that you have 100% kill. Herbicides that contain MSMA and DSMA, which were classically used to control Dallisgrass, are no longer labeled to be used on home turf.

Lawn Herbicides for Weed Management