Arthraxon hispidus(Thunb.) Makino

small carpgrasssmall carpetgrass

WFO wfo-0000849805 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Arthraxon hispidus, photographed by mefisher
fig. a mefisher, CC0 1.0 / 2021-10-01 / obs. 160968413
Arthraxon hispidus, photographed by mefisher
fig. b mefisher, CC0 1.0 / obs. 159474586
Arthraxon hispidus, photographed by Emily Summerbell
fig. c Emily Summerbell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 156026832
Arthraxon hispidus, photographed by Tom Field
fig. d Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 155864670
Arthraxon hispidus, photographed by Nina Filippova
fig. e Nina Filippova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 157696255
Arthraxon hispidus, photographed by Antonia Bookbinder
fig. f Antonia Bookbinder, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 145011232
Arthraxon hispidus, photographed by Mary Pierce
fig. g Mary Pierce, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 99363304
Arthraxon hispidus, photographed by Tom Field
fig. h Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 98093876

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
01559311
Filed as
Arthraxon hispidus (Thunb.) Makino
Det. by
D. E. Atha 2015-01-01
Collected
J. V. Monachino 1937-10-06
Origin
US
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 65 botanical countries

Regions where Arthraxon hispidus is native: Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Socotra, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Korea, Manchuria, Nansei-shoto, North Caucasus, Ogasawara-shoto, Oman, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang, Yemen, Andaman Is., Assam, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, New South Wales, Queensland BurundiCameroonChadDR CongoEritreaEthiopiaGuineaGulf of Guinea Is.KenyaMadagascarMalawiMozambiqueNigeriaRwandaSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaUgandaZambiaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanInner MongoliaIranJapanKazakhstanKirgizstanManchuriaNorth CaucasusOmanTadzhikistanTaiwanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeUzbekistanXinjiangYemenAssamCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamWest HimalayaNew South WalesQueensland MauritiusKoreaNansei-shotoAndaman Is.
Native distribution of Arthraxon hispidus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
China North-Central CHN ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Japan JAP
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Manchuria CHM
Nansei-shoto NNS
North Caucasus NCS
Ogasawara-shoto OGA
Oman OMA
Tadzhikistan TZK
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Uzbekistan UZB
Xinjiang CHX
Yemen YEM
Burundi BUR AFRICA
Cameroon CMN
Chad CHA
DR Congo ZAI
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Guinea GUI
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Kenya KEN
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mauritius MAU
Mozambique MOZ
Nigeria NGA
Rwanda RWA
Sierra Leone SIE
Socotra SOC
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD

Not drawn on the map: Socotra, Ogasawara-shoto. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,659 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -5.4 °C -2.7 °C 2.1 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 27.2 °C 29.9 °C 31.7 °C
Annual rainfall 1,031 mm 1,163 mm 1,481 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 184 mm 243 mm 297 mm

It is found where winters bring hard frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,659 research-grade observations of Arthraxon hispidus that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 137 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Alectoridia quartiniana A.Rich.
  • Andropogon alectoridia Steud.
  • Andropogon amplexifolius Trin.
  • Andropogon ciliaris (P.Beauv.) Raspail
  • Andropogon lasiocoleus Steud.
  • Andropogon micans (Nees) Steud.
  • Andropogon plumbeus (Nees ex Arn.) Hochst.
  • Andropogon violaceus B.Heyne ex Steud.
  • Arthraxon caucasicus (Rupr. ex Regel) Tzvelev
  • Arthraxon centrasiaticus (Griseb.) Gamajun.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris P.Beauv.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris subsp. langsdorffianus (Steud.) Hack.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris subsp. langsdorffii (Trin.) Hack.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris subsp. langsdorfii (Trin.) Hack.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris subsp. quartinianus (A.Rich.) Hack.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris subsp. submuticus (Regel) Hack.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris subsp. vriesii (Buse) Hack.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris var. australis Benth.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris var. centrasiaticus Ohwi
  • Arthraxon ciliaris var. centrasiaticus (Griseb.) Hack.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris var. coloratus (Hochst.) Hack.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris var. cryptatherus Hack.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris var. genuinus Hack.
  • Arthraxon ciliaris var. glabrescens Hack.

and 113 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.