Trailing annual; culms 20-40 cm long, very slender. Leaf-blades narrowly lanceolate, 2-7 cm long, 2-5 mm wide. Inflorescence digitate with 2-4 racemes; racemes 3-9 cm long, the spikelets binate and loosely overlapping by about half their length on a narrowly winged triquetrous rhachis with almost smooth edges. Spikelets narrowly lanceolate, 2.5-3 mm long; lower glume an inconspicuous ovate scale up to 0.3 mm long; upper glume one-third to two-thirds as long as the spikelet, 3-nerved; lower lemma as long as the spikelet, 5(-7)-nerved, with a wide central interspace and the lateral nerves so close together that the lemma is apparently 3-nerved, appressed or silky pubescent, very rarely with a ciliate fringe, never with bristles; fruit narrowly lanceolate, yellowish or pale brown.

Fl. & Fr. Per.: October.

Type: Philippines, Luzon, Haenke (PR).

Distribution: Pakistan (Punjab, introduced); Tanzania, Mauritius and the Seychelles, through tropical Asia to the Pacific Islands; introduced in a few other places.

Digitaria radicosa is related to Digitaria ciliaris. It is recognised by its weak trailing culms, few digitate racemes, smooth-edged rhachis and narrow spikelets with contiguous lateral nerves; also the upper glume is often shorter than that of Digitaria ciliaris.