Pappophorum pappiferum(Lam.) Kuntze

limestone pappusgrass

WFO wfo-0000887041 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 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.

Pappophorum pappiferum, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. a Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / 2017-09-28 / obs. 11425465
Pappophorum pappiferum, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. b Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 11425462
Pappophorum pappiferum, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. c Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 11425461
Pappophorum pappiferum, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. d Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 11425472
Pappophorum pappiferum, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. e Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 11425463
Pappophorum pappiferum, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. f Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 11425464
Pappophorum pappiferum, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. g Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 11425455
Pappophorum pappiferum, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. h Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 11425466

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 19 botanical countries

Regions where Pappophorum pappiferum is native: Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southwest, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Colombia, Ecuador, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Netherlands Antilles, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, Windward Is. Mexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SouthwestArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBoliviaBrazil NortheastColombiaEcuadorJamaicaParaguayPeruPuerto RicoTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela Leeward Is.Netherlands AntillesWindward Is.
Native distribution of Pappophorum pappiferum, 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
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Bolivia BOL
Brazil Northeast BZE
Colombia CLM
Ecuador ECU
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Netherlands Antilles NLA
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Mexico Gulf MXG NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southwest MXS

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 11 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.

  • Pappophorum alopecuroideum Vahl
  • Pappophorum alopecuroideum var. glabrum Döll
  • Pappophorum alopecuroideum var. pilosiusculum Döll
  • Pappophorum elongatum Spreng.
  • Pappophorum laguroideum Schrad.
  • Pappophorum macrostachyum Schrad.
  • Pappophorum pappiferum var. alopecuroideum (Vahl) Kuntze
  • Pappophorum pappiferum var. laguroideum (Schrad.) Kuntze
  • Pappophorum polystachyum Kunth
  • Pappophorum saccharoides Griseb.
  • Saccharum pappiferum Lam.

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.