From the CO2Science Archive: In our regular visits to the plant growth archive we encounter some amusing plant names. But few are more compelling than Hairy Crabgrass, who as a cowboy would have fit right into an old John Wayne western. As a plant, Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop. is sometimes considered a weedy pest, although it was brought by early European settlers and planted widely because it is edible, nutritious, hardy, an excellent foraging high in protein and, who knows, maybe also because it has a funny name. In any case, in 1984 there were two experiments showing that an extra 300 ppm CO2 boosted growth by 39% and an extra 600 ppm boosted growth by 63.5%. So love it or hate, you’re in for more of ol’ Hairy.