Fimbristylis bisumbellata(Forssk.) Bubani

WFO wfo-0000418850 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 4 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 4 times, 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.

Fimbristylis bisumbellata, photographed by chiuluan
fig. a chiuluan, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-04-22 / obs. 189792773

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
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Accession
K002532995
Filed as
Fimbristylis bisumbellata (Forssk.) Bubani
Det. by
Hooper, S.S.
Collected
S.coll.
Origin
EG
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

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 81 botanical countries

Regions where Fimbristylis bisumbellata is native: Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burkina, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Aegean Is., Iran, Iraq, Japan, Lebanon-Syria, Nansei-shoto, North Caucasus, Ogasawara-shoto, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Xinjiang, Yemen, Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, Albania, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Romania, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaAngolaBotswanaBurkinaCape ProvincesCentral African RepublicChadEgyptEritreaEthiopiaGabonGhanaIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarMalawiMaliMauritaniaMoroccoMozambiqueNamibiaNigeriaNorthern ProvincesSenegalSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaZambiaZimbabweAfghanistanChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastEast Aegean Is.IranIraqJapanLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusPalestineSaudi ArabiaTaiwanTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanXinjiangYemenAssamBangladeshCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosMyanmarNepalPakistanPhilippinesSri LankaThailandVietnamNorthern TerritoryQueenslandWestern AustraliaAlbaniaBulgariaFranceGreeceItalyNW. Balkan Pen.PortugalRomaniaSiciliaSpainSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine Canary Is.Nansei-shoto
Native distribution of Fimbristylis bisumbellata, 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
Burkina BKN
Canary Is. CNY
Cape Provinces CPP
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Egypt EGY
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Ghana GHA
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Morocco MOR
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Senegal SEN
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
East Aegean Is. EAI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Japan JAP
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Nansei-shoto NNS
North Caucasus NCS
Ogasawara-shoto OGA
Palestine PAL
Saudi Arabia SAU
Taiwan TAI
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Xinjiang CHX
Yemen YEM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
Albania ALB EUROPE
Bulgaria BUL
France FRA
Greece GRC
Italy ITA
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Northern Territory NTA AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD
Western Australia WAU

Not drawn on the map: Ogasawara-shoto. 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 61 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 6.0 °C 13.4 °C 16.2 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 29.0 °C 30.4 °C 34.9 °C
Annual rainfall 566 mm 2,222 mm 3,492 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 3 mm 100 mm 626 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 61 research-grade observations of Fimbristylis bisumbellata 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 8 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.

  • Fimbristylis bisumbellata var. elata Täckh.
  • Fimbristylis dichotoma subsp. bisumbellata (Forssk.) Luceño
  • Fimbristylis dichotoma var. villosa Vahl
  • Fimbristylis liukiuensis Tuyama
  • Fimbristylis pallescens (Roxb.) Nees
  • Iria bisumbellata (Forssk.) Kuntze
  • Scirpus bisumbellatus Forssk.
  • Scirpus pallescens Roxb.

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. 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.