Dichanthium annulatum(Forssk.) Stapf

Kleberg's bluestem

WFO wfo-0000863549 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Dichanthium annulatum, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. a Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-04-29 / obs. 191756871

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 76 botanical countries

Regions where Dichanthium annulatum is native: Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Caprivi Strip, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Free State, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Northern Provinces, Réunion, Senegal, Socotra, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, China South-Central, China Southeast, Gulf States, Hainan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon-Syria, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Taiwan, Türkiye, Yemen, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Pakistan, Philippines, South China Sea, Sulawesi, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya AlgeriaAngolaBotswanaCape ProvincesCaprivi StripChadDjiboutiEgyptEritreaEswatiniEthiopiaFree StateGuineaIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLibyaMadagascarMalawiMaliMauritaniaMoroccoMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNorthern ProvincesSenegalSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTunisiaUgandaZambiaZimbabweAfghanistanChina South-CentralChina SoutheastGulf StatesHainanIranIraqKuwaitLebanon-SyriaOmanPalestineSaudi ArabiaSinaiTaiwanTürkiyeYemenAssamBangladeshBorneoEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPakistanPhilippinesSulawesiThailandVietnamWest Himalaya Cape VerdeComorosMauritiusRéunionAndaman Is.Nicobar Is.South China Sea
Native distribution of Dichanthium annulatum, 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
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Angola ANG
Botswana BOT
Cape Provinces CPP
Cape Verde CVI
Caprivi Strip CPV
Chad CHA
Comoros COM
Djibouti DJI
Egypt EGY
Eritrea ERI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Guinea GUI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Libya LBY
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mauritius MAU
Morocco MOR
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Northern Provinces TVL
Réunion REU
Senegal SEN
Socotra SOC
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Tunisia TUN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Nicobar Is. NCB
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
South China Sea SCS
Sulawesi SUL
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Gulf States GST
Hainan CHH
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Kuwait KUW
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Oman OMA
Palestine PAL
Saudi Arabia SAU
Sinai SIN
Taiwan TAI
Türkiye TUR
Yemen YEM

Not drawn on the map: Socotra. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is 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.

Flowering 144 in flower of 170 examined

Proportion of examined Dichanthium annulatum in flower, by month
Month In flower Examined Share 95% interval
Jan 11 13 85% 58% to 96%
Feb 7 8 88% 53% to 98%
Mar 23 24 96% 80% to 99%
Apr 30 42 71% 56% to 83%
May 10 13 77% 50% to 92%
Jun 5 6 83% 44% to 97%
Jul 1 1 too few examined
Aug 2 2 too few examined
Sep 3 3 too few examined
Oct 16 19 84% 62% to 94%
Nov 19 20 95% 76% to 99%
Dec 17 19 89% 69% to 97%

Peak flowering in Mar. Each bar is the share of Dichanthium annulatum observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 144 of 170 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 3 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Where it actually grows measured, from 2,045 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 6.3 °C 12.4 °C 16.9 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 29.0 °C 30.7 °C 36.2 °C
Annual rainfall 632 mm 1,279 mm 2,733 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 51 mm 110 mm 240 mm

It is barely found anywhere that freezes. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 2,045 research-grade observations of Dichanthium annulatum 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. Climate from CHELSA V2.1 (Karger et al. 2017); occurrences from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 20 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.

  • Andropogon annulatus Forssk.
  • Andropogon annulatus var. decalvatus Hack.
  • Andropogon annulatus var. papillosus (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Hook.f.
  • Andropogon comosus Link
  • Andropogon garipensis Steud.
  • Andropogon nodosus Nash
  • Andropogon obtusus Nees ex Hook. & Arn.
  • Andropogon papillosus Hochst. ex A.Rich.
  • Andropogon scandens Roxb.
  • Andropogon undulatus Pers.
  • Bothriochloa tuberculata W.Z.Fang
  • Dichanthium annulatum var. bullisetosum B.S.Sun & S.Wang
  • Dichanthium annulatum var. decalvatum (Hack.) Maire & Weiller
  • Dichanthium annulatum var. papillosam (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) de Wet & J.R.Harlan
  • Dichanthium nodosum Willemet
  • Dichanthium papillosum (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Stapf
  • Gymnandropogon annulatus (Forssk.) Duthie
  • Lepeocercis annulata (Forssk.) Nees
  • Sorghum annulatum (Forssk.) Kuntze
  • Sorghum papillosum (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Kuntze

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.