Echinochloa crus-pavonis(Kunth) Schult.

gulf cockspur grass

WFO wfo-0000865297 Accepted WFO 2026-06 4 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–d · 1 observation

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 1 time, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Echinochloa crus-pavonis, photographed by Chris Parminter
fig. a Chris Parminter, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-01-10 / obs. 175873319
Echinochloa crus-pavonis, photographed by Chris Parminter
fig. b Chris Parminter, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 175873351
Echinochloa crus-pavonis, photographed by Chris Parminter
fig. c Chris Parminter, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 175873251
Echinochloa crus-pavonis, photographed by Chris Parminter
fig. d Chris Parminter, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 175873405

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 39 botanical countries

Regions where Echinochloa crus-pavonis is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Central African Republic, Chad, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Liberia, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Andaman Is., Assam, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., Vietnam AngolaBeninBotswanaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesCentral African RepublicChadDR CongoEthiopiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLiberiaMalawiNigerNigeriaRwandaSierra LeoneSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanAssamCambodiaIndiaMyanmarVietnam Andaman Is.Nicobar Is.
Native distribution of Echinochloa crus-pavonis, 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
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
DR Congo ZAI
Ethiopia ETH
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Liberia LBR
Malawi MLW
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Rwanda RWA
Sierra Leone SIE
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Cambodia CBD
India IND
Myanmar MYA
Nicobar Is. NCB
Vietnam VIE
China North-Central CHN ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH

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.

Also published as 24 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.

  • Echinochloa aristata Raspail
  • Echinochloa composita J.Presl ex Nees
  • Echinochloa crus-galli f. sabulicola (Nees) Farw.
  • Echinochloa crus-galli f. sabulonum Farw.
  • Echinochloa crus-galli var. crus-pavonis (Kunth) Hitchc.
  • Echinochloa crus-galli var. macra (Wiegand) Shinners
  • Echinochloa crus-pavonis var. crus-pavonis
  • Echinochloa crus-pavonis var. macera (Wiegand) Gould
  • Echinochloa kimayalaensis Vanderyst
  • Echinochloa sabulicola (Nees) Hitchc.
  • Echinochloa zelayensis var. macra Wiegand
  • Echinochloa zelayensis var. subaristata Wiegand
  • Echinochloa zeylanensis var. macera Wiegand
  • Oplismenus angustifolius E.Fourn.
  • Oplismenus crus-pavonis Kunth
  • Oplismenus jamaicensis Kunth
  • Oplismenus sabulicola (Nees) Kunth
  • Panicum aristatum Macfad.
  • Panicum colonum var. bussei Peter
  • Panicum crus-pavonis Nees
  • Panicum crus-pavonis var. rostratum Stapf
  • Panicum horridum Salzm. ex Steud.
  • Panicum jamaicense (Kunth) Steud.
  • Panicum sabulicola Nees

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.