Eleusine indica(L.) Gaertn.

Indian goosegrass

WFO wfo-0000865718 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Eleusine indica, photographed by Utain Pummarin
fig. a Utain Pummarin, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-12 / obs. 205632330

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 100 botanical countries

Regions where Eleusine indica is native: Aldabra, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Réunion, Rodrigues, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Aegean Is., Hainan, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Japan, Kazan-retto, Korea, Lebanon-Syria, Manchuria, Nansei-shoto, North Caucasus, Ogasawara-shoto, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, Assam, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laccadive Is., Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maldives, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan, Philippines, Solomon Is., South China Sea, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Türkiye-in-Europe AngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEquatorial GuineaEswatiniEthiopiaGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLiberiaMadagascarMalawiMaliMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastEast Aegean Is.HainanInner MongoliaIranJapanLebanon-SyriaManchuriaNorth CaucasusOmanPalestineSaudi ArabiaSinaiTadzhikistanTaiwanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeUzbekistanAssamBangladeshBismarck ArchipelagoBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPakistanPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamWest HimalayaTürkiye-in-Europe AldabraCape VerdeComorosMauritiusRéunionRodriguesSeychellesKoreaNansei-shotoLaccadive Is.MaldivesSouth China Sea
Native distribution of Eleusine indica, 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
Aldabra ALD AFRICA
Angola ANG
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Cape Verde CVI
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Comoros COM
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Equatorial Guinea EQG
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Liberia LBR
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritius MAU
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Réunion REU
Rodrigues ROD
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Seychelles SEY
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Bismarck Archipelago BIS
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laccadive Is. LDV
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maldives MDV
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
South China Sea SCS
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
China North-Central CHN ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
East Aegean Is. EAI
Hainan CHH
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Japan JAP
Kazan-retto KZN
Korea KOR
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Manchuria CHM
Nansei-shoto NNS
North Caucasus NCS
Ogasawara-shoto OGA
Oman OMA
Palestine PAL
Saudi Arabia SAU
Sinai SIN
Tadzhikistan TZK
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Uzbekistan UZB
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE EUROPE

Not drawn on the map: Kazan-retto, 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.

Flowering 240 in flower of 482 examined

Proportion of examined Eleusine indica in flower, by month
Month In flower Examined Share 95% interval
Jan 4 14 29% 12% to 55%
Feb 4 16 25% 10% to 50%
Mar 17 28 61% 42% to 76%
Apr 25 48 52% 38% to 66%
May 11 24 46% 28% to 65%
Jun 13 24 54% 35% to 72%
Jul 34 54 63% 50% to 75%
Aug 59 93 63% 53% to 73%
Sep 29 63 46% 34% to 58%
Oct 26 70 37% 27% to 49%
Nov 14 37 38% 24% to 54%
Dec 4 11 36% 15% to 65%

Peak flowering in Aug. Each bar is the share of Eleusine indica 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. 240 of 482 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 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 2,034 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -5.6 °C 11.2 °C 21.6 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 24.0 °C 29.6 °C 34.2 °C
Annual rainfall 546 mm 1,324 mm 3,512 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 17 mm 160 mm 508 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 2,034 research-grade observations of Eleusine indica 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 31 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.

  • Agropyron geminatum (Spreng.) Schult. & Schult.f.
  • Chloris repens Steud.
  • Cynodon indicus (L.) Raspail
  • Cynosurus ara Buch.-Ham. ex Wall.
  • Cynosurus indicus L.
  • Cynosurus pectinatus Lam.
  • Eleusine distachya Trin. ex Steud.
  • Eleusine distans Moench
  • Eleusine distans Link
  • Eleusine domingensis Sieber ex Schult.
  • Eleusine glabra Schumach.
  • Eleusine gonantha Schrank
  • Eleusine gouinii E.Fourn.
  • Eleusine inaequalis E.Fourn.
  • Eleusine indica subsp. indica
  • Eleusine indica var. major E.Fourn.
  • Eleusine indica var. monostachya F.M.Bailey
  • Eleusine indica var. monostachys Bailey
  • Eleusine indica var. oligostachya Honda
  • Eleusine indica var. sandaensis Vanderyst
  • Eleusine japonica Steud.
  • Eleusine macrosperma Stokes
  • Eleusine marginata Lindl.
  • Eleusine polydactyla Steud.

and 7 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.