Taxonomy is often neglected, misunderstood, and even derided in some quarters, even though it is essential to the fundamental understanding of biodiversity, its conservation and sustainable use. This is the case for Digitaria in Madagascar, where no comprehensive and modern taxonomic framework has been attempted so far, which hampers the various research about them. Digitaria species has in common panicoid spikelets, no awn, with upper lemma margins distinctly flat and covering well the upper palea. This genus contains both nutritious forage and noxious weed species, and an update of the species classification would help to distinguish, to use and control them, to improve agricultural productivity in the country. The study is based on samples collected during fieldworks, mainly in the highlands of Madagascar, and on all existing collections at the herbaria of TAN, K, and P. Our approach is to examine the specimens, check their identification against Henrad's protologue, and re-describe each species. So far, we have collected about 50 new Digitaria specimens and worked with ca. 500 in total, including indet. collections. We enumerated 37 species at the beginning using books and existing data. Then, D. abyssinica, D. setigera and D. tricholaenoides were excluded from the list as there is no specimen of them has been recorded from Madagascar. D. bosseri too was removed, as it seems to not be a Digitaria. D. madagascariensis, an endemic species, has been lumped to D. fulva as they are very similar and has no distinctive character to make them separate, also they share the same habitat and location. Another two endemic species, D. planniculmis and D. psammophila, have been put as synonyms of D. didactyla for the same reasons. As new discoveries, a group of specimens from the indet. folders seem to be a new species, as they have no match with both South Africa’s and the Mascareigne’s species. We also find new collections for Madagascar, one is from recent collections, and one from indet. folders. So far, the list ends up with 30 species. Descriptions have been updated for those species. With keys and species illustrations, they will be published as a monograph. Based on the monograph, the identification of the species will serve as a reference for the elaboration of a guide on weeds and forages to improve agriculture in the Highlands of Madagascar, which is the second main objective of the project. Authors of paper: Lorna McKinoon & Rakotomalala Nantenaina Herizo Presenter: Rakotomalala Nantenaina Herizo