Tufted or prostrate to spreading summer annual with branched stems that root at the nodes. Leaf blade, longer than 2 inches (5 cm), usually hairy on both surfaces, visible toothed membranous ligule at base of leaf. Leaf sheath with dense hairs. Spikelets in two to nine finger-like branches. Southern crabgrass is distinguished from large crabgrass on the basis of the length of the second glume (a bract at the base of spikelet). These species differ from tropical crabgrass in that the seedhead branches arise from different points of attachment along the stalk. Both species reproduce by seed. Southern crabgrass occurs northward on the coastal plain occasionally to Connecticut, more common southward east of the Appalachian region, throughout Florida, extending west into Texas and north into Kansas and Nebraska. Also occurs in the West Indies, Mexico, Central and South America. Large crabgrass is found throughout North America, except Florida, and the warm temperate regions of the world. Both species thought to be introduced from the Old World.