Leersia oryzoides(L.) Sw.

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WFO wfo-0000877688 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Leersia oryzoides, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. a Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-09-07 / obs. 157023068

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 109 botanical countries

Regions where Leersia oryzoides is native: Azores, Altay, China Southeast, Hainan, Inner Mongolia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Korea, Manchuria, North Caucasus, Primorye, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Northeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming AltayChina SoutheastHainanInner MongoliaJapanKazakhstanKirgizstanManchuriaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeTadzhikistanTranscaucasusTurkmenistanUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangPakistanWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraineAlabamaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMexico NortheastMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNova ScotiaOhioOklahomaOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming AzoresKoreaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Leersia oryzoides, 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
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Northeast MXE
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Inner Mongolia CHI
Japan JAP
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Manchuria CHM
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
West Himalaya WHM
Azores AZO AFRICA

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. 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 43 in flower of 130 examined

Proportion of examined Leersia oryzoides in flower, by month
Month In flower Examined Share 95% interval
Jan 0 0 too few examined
Feb 0 0 too few examined
Mar 0 0 too few examined
Apr 0 0 too few examined
May 0 1 too few examined
Jun 1 4 too few examined
Jul 8 11 73% 43% to 90%
Aug 20 47 43% 30% to 57%
Sep 13 55 24% 14% to 36%
Oct 0 11 0% 0% to 26%
Nov 1 1 too few examined
Dec 0 0 too few examined

Peak flowering in Jul. Each bar is the share of Leersia oryzoides 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. 43 of 130 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 8 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 2,004 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -14.9 °C -7.3 °C 2.0 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 22.5 °C 25.3 °C 31.6 °C
Annual rainfall 538 mm 926 mm 1,398 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 75 mm 155 mm 282 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 2,004 research-grade observations of Leersia oryzoides 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 29 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.

  • Asperella oryzoides (L.) Lam.
  • Asprella flexuosa Dulac
  • Asprella oryzoides (L.) Schreb.
  • Ehrharta clandestina Weber
  • Ehrhartia clandestina Weber
  • Homalocenchrus oryzoides (L.) Mieg ex Pollich
  • Homalocenchrus oryzoides (L.) Haller
  • Leersia asperrima Willd. ex Trin.
  • Leersia oryzoides f. clandestina (Weber) Eames
  • Leersia oryzoides f. glabra A.A.Eaton
  • Leersia oryzoides f. inclusa (Weisbord ex Baen.) Dörfl.
  • Leersia oryzoides f. maculosa (Waisb.) Soó
  • Leersia oryzoides f. oryzoides
  • Leersia oryzoides f. picta (Waisb.) Soó
  • Leersia oryzoides var. oryzoides
  • Leersia oryzoides var. patens (Wiesb. ex Baen.) Rouy
  • Leersia oryzoides var. purpurascens N.H.F.Desp.
  • Oriza oryzoides Dalla Torre & Sarnth.
  • Oryza clandestina (Weber) A.Braun ex Asch.
  • Oryza clandestina f. clandestina
  • Oryza clandestina f. inclusa Wiesb.
  • Oryza clandestina f. maculosa Waisb.
  • Oryza clandestina f. patens Weisbord ex Baen.
  • Oryza clandestina f. picta Waisb.

and 5 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.