Cenchrus spinifexCav.

coastal sandbur

WFO wfo-0000858715 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Cenchrus spinifex, photographed by Leila Dasher
fig. a Leila Dasher, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-11 / obs. 197043101
Cenchrus spinifex, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. b Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196159574
Cenchrus spinifex, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. c Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 182015752
Cenchrus spinifex, photographed by Hugo Hulsberg
fig. d Hugo Hulsberg, CC0 1.0 / obs. 181196740
Cenchrus spinifex, photographed by Lauu
fig. e Lauu, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 179257606
Cenchrus spinifex, photographed by Reid Hardin
fig. f Reid Hardin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 176421245
Cenchrus spinifex, photographed by Tim Johnson
fig. g Tim Johnson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 174437345
Cenchrus spinifex, photographed by Jim Riley
fig. h Jim Riley, CC0 1.0 / obs. 165232886

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.

Native range 56 botanical countries

Regions where Cenchrus spinifex is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil South, Cayman Is., Chile North, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Turks-Caicos Is., Uruguay, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is. AlabamaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisKentuckyLouisianaMarylandMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMississippiNevadaNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaOklahomaSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVirginiaArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestArgentina SouthBelizeBoliviaBrazil SouthChile NorthColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoUruguay District of ColumbiaBahamasCayman Is.Leeward Is.Turks-Caicos Is.Venezuelan AntillesWindward Is.
Native distribution of Cenchrus spinifex, 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
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
California CAL
Colorado COL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maryland MRY
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Mississippi MSI
Nevada NEV
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Oklahoma OKL
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Virginia VRG
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Argentina South AGS
Bahamas BAH
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil South BZS
Cayman Is. CAY
Chile North CLN
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Turks-Caicos Is. TCI
Uruguay URU
Venezuelan Antilles VNA
Windward Is. WIN

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 2,015 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 0.5 °C 6.4 °C 16.3 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 28.4 °C 34.1 °C 35.5 °C
Annual rainfall 444 mm 926 mm 1,504 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 39 mm 166 mm 257 mm

It is found where winters are cool but frost is light or absent. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 2,015 research-grade observations of Cenchrus spinifex 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 15 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.

  • Cenchrus albertsonii Runyon
  • Cenchrus carolinianus Walter
  • Cenchrus humilis Hitchc.
  • Cenchrus incertus M.A.Curtis
  • Cenchrus microcephalus Nash ex Hitchc. & Chase
  • Cenchrus muricatus Phil.
  • Cenchrus parviceps Shinners
  • Cenchrus pauciflorus Benth.
  • Cenchrus pauciflorus var. muricatus Caro & E.A.Sánchez
  • Cenchrus pauciflorus var. pauciflorus
  • Cenchrus roseus E.Fourn. ex Hemsl.
  • Cenchrus roseus E.Fourn.
  • Cenchrus spinosus Rojas Acosta
  • Cenchrus strictus Chapm.
  • Nastus carolinianus (Walter) Lunell

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.