Paspalum plicatulumMichx.

brownseed paspalum

WFO wfo-0000888224 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Paspalum plicatulum, photographed by Hugo Hulsberg
fig. a Hugo Hulsberg, CC0 1.0 / 2021-10-15 / obs. 166473400
Paspalum plicatulum, photographed by John Michael
fig. b John Michael, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 146228203
Paspalum plicatulum, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. c Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 143211122
Paspalum plicatulum, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. d Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 137212059
Paspalum plicatulum, photographed by Annika Lindqvist
fig. e Annika Lindqvist, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 127349620
Paspalum plicatulum, photographed by Dan Johnson
fig. f Dan Johnson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 102089281
Paspalum plicatulum, photographed by Dan Johnson
fig. g Dan Johnson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 101557038
Paspalum plicatulum, photographed by Dan Johnson
fig. h Dan Johnson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 101554127

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 44 botanical countries

Regions where Paspalum plicatulum is native: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, Windward Is. AlabamaFloridaGeorgiaLouisianaMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMississippiSouth CarolinaTexasArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela BermudaLeeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Paspalum plicatulum, 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
Belize BLZ
Bermuda BER
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Louisiana LOU
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Mississippi MSI
South Carolina SCA
Texas TEX

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 871 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 5.9 °C 7.7 °C 12.1 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 29.9 °C 33.6 °C 35.0 °C
Annual rainfall 904 mm 1,279 mm 1,524 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 154 mm 245 mm 279 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 871 research-grade observations of Paspalum plicatulum 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 43 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.

  • Panicum antillense Husn.
  • Panicum plicatulum (Michx.) Kuntze
  • Paspalum antillense Husn.
  • Paspalum atrocarpum Steud.
  • Paspalum caespitosum Hochst. ex Döll
  • Paspalum campestre Schltdl.
  • Paspalum caperatum Swallen
  • Paspalum decumbens Sagot ex Döll
  • Paspalum formosum Swallen
  • Paspalum lachneum Trin. ex Döll
  • Paspalum lenticulare Kunth
  • Paspalum lenticulare f. intumescens (Döll) Killeen
  • Paspalum marginatum Spreng. ex Steud.
  • Paspalum montevidense Spreng.
  • Paspalum multiflorum Desv.
  • Paspalum oligostachyum var. pilosum Döll
  • Paspalum orthos Kunth
  • Paspalum paludosum Swallen
  • Paspalum pauperculum E.Fourn.
  • Paspalum pauperculum var. altius E.Fourn.
  • Paspalum plicatulum subsp. montevidense (Spreng.) Roseng., B.R.Arrill. & Izag.
  • Paspalum plicatulum subsp. plicatulum
  • Paspalum plicatulum var. cinereum Döll
  • Paspalum plicatulum var. ellipticum Döll

and 19 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.