Enneapogon desvauxiiP.Beauv.

nineawn pappusgrass

WFO wfo-0000867132 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Enneapogon desvauxii, photographed by Elliott Gordon
fig. a Elliott Gordon, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-03-15 / obs. 183067280

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
Smithsonian, US National Herbarium
Accession
US 1037646
Filed as
Enneapogon desvauxii P.Beauv.
Det. by
Rosengurtt, B.
Collected
A. S. Hitchcock 1910-07-24
Origin
MX
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC0 1.0)

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 66 botanical countries

Regions where Enneapogon desvauxii is native: Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Free State, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Northern Provinces, Socotra, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Western Sahara, Zimbabwe, Buryatiya, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Gulf States, Inner Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Manchuria, Mongolia, Oman, Palestine, Qinghai, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Tuva, Xinjiang, Yemen, India, Pakistan, Arizona, California, Colorado, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bolivia, Chile North, Peru AlgeriaAngolaBotswanaCape ProvincesChadDjiboutiEgyptEritreaEthiopiaFree StateKenyaLibyaMaliMauritaniaMoroccoNamibiaNigerNorthern ProvincesSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTunisiaWestern SaharaZimbabweBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastChitaGulf StatesInner MongoliaKazakhstanKirgizstanKrasnoyarskManchuriaMongoliaOmanPalestineQinghaiSaudi ArabiaSinaiTuvaXinjiangYemenIndiaPakistanArizonaCaliforniaColoradoMexico CentralMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SouthwestNevadaNew MexicoOklahomaTexasUtahArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBoliviaChile NorthPeru Canary Is.Cape Verde
Native distribution of Enneapogon desvauxii, 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
Canary Is. CNY
Cape Provinces CPP
Cape Verde CVI
Chad CHA
Djibouti DJI
Egypt EGY
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Kenya KEN
Libya LBY
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Morocco MOR
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Northern Provinces TVL
Socotra SOC
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Tunisia TUN
Western Sahara WSA
Zimbabwe ZIM
Buryatiya BRY ASIA-TEMPERATE
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Chita CTA
Gulf States GST
Inner Mongolia CHI
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
Oman OMA
Palestine PAL
Qinghai CHQ
Saudi Arabia SAU
Sinai SIN
Tuva TVA
Xinjiang CHX
Yemen YEM
Arizona ARI NORTHERN AMERICA
California CAL
Colorado COL
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southwest MXS
Nevada NEV
New Mexico NWM
Oklahoma OKL
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Bolivia BOL
Chile North CLN
Peru PER
India IND ASIA-TROPICAL
Pakistan PAK

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.

Where it actually grows measured, from 400 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -21.5 °C 1.5 °C 9.4 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 25.9 °C 33.1 °C 36.7 °C
Annual rainfall 94 mm 316 mm 504 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 2 mm 28 mm 52 mm

It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 400 research-grade observations of Enneapogon desvauxii 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 27 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.

  • Agrostis ciliata Pall. ex Ledeb.
  • Agrostis ciliata Pall. ex Kom.
  • Cottea sarmentosa Nees ex Steud.
  • Czerniaevia rupestris Turcz. ex Kom.
  • Enneapogon borealis (Griseb.) Honda
  • Enneapogon brachystachyus (Jaub. & Spach) Stapf
  • Enneapogon brachystachyus var. macrantherus Stapf
  • Enneapogon desvauxii subsp. borealis (Griseb.) Tzvelev
  • Enneapogon jinjiangensis B.S.Sun & S.Wang
  • Enneapogon phleioides Roem. & Schult.
  • Enneapogon pusillus Rendle
  • Enneapogon wrightii (S.Watson) Roshev.
  • Enneapogon wrightii (S.Watson) C.E.Hubb.
  • Pappophorum arabicum Hochst. ex Steud.
  • Pappophorum boreale Griseb.
  • Pappophorum brachystachyum Jaub. & Spach
  • Pappophorum brachystachyum var. trilophum Chiov.
  • Pappophorum bulbosum Fig. & De Not.
  • Pappophorum fasciculatum Chiov.
  • Pappophorum figarianum Fig. & De Not.
  • Pappophorum jaminianum Coss. & Durieu ex Boiss.
  • Pappophorum mexicanum E.Fourn.
  • Pappophorum nanum Steud.
  • Pappophorum phleoides Turcz.

and 3 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.