Eleusine indica aka Crowfoot Grass

Eleusine indica is an annual grass in the Poaceae family. Common names include goosegrass, wiregrass, and silver crabgrass. It comes from tropical and subtropical parts of the Old World. Its range spans Africa and Asia, reaching New Guinea. It now grows across much of the United States. It also occurs in many other parts of the world. Roadsides, waste ground, farms, and disturbed grassland suit it well.

This grass branches at its base and forms clumps. A listed height is about 1.5 feet [0.45 m]. Broader height reports span 0.5–2.8 feet [0.15–0.85 m]. Young plants lie low, then send up upright shoots. Stems spread outward from a central rosette. Their flat, pale bases help distinguish the plant. Green stems are smooth, slightly flattened, and wrapped in leaf sheaths. The narrow leaves reach about 0.83 feet [0.25 m] long. Most leaf surfaces lack hairs, but scattered hairs line the edges. The blades have a keel and boat-shaped tips.

Small flowers appear from summer into fall. The flower spikes form a whorl atop the stems. Each spike can reach 0.5 feet [0.15 m] long. Two close rows of spikelets line one side. Wind carries the pollen. The fruit is a small, black grain called a caryopsis. Plants spread by seed and can seed despite close mowing. One plant may produce more than 50,000 seeds. Rain, wind, animals, people, and machinery help move them.

Full sun and ordinary garden soil support growth. It also tolerates partial shade and many soil textures. These include sand, loam, clay, and shallow rocky ground. It grows in acid or neutral soil. It withstands heat, drought, poor soil, and ground compaction. NC State lists USDA zones 8–11. Its leaves feed several insects, but its main landscape role is weedy. Fast growth can let it overtop small plants. Stems do not root at their nodes. Yet established plants develop tough, fibrous roots that hinder removal.

People cook the small seeds whole or grind them into flour. Young seedlings serve as food, and records describe eating raw roots. Stems provide material for mats, baskets, and paper. Traditional medicine uses the plant, with emphasis on its roots. Food use does not establish that it is harmless. Plants For A Future lists no known hazards. Useful Tropical Plants reports cyanogenic compounds, with the highest levels in seeds. These conflicting reports call for caution about eating it.