Paspalum repensP.J.Bergius

horsetail paspalum

WFO wfo-0000888349 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Paspalum repens, photographed by Adam Pitcher
fig. a Adam Pitcher, CC0 1.0 / 2020-05-17 / obs. 73600370
Paspalum repens, photographed by Tyler Bishop
fig. b Tyler Bishop, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 54810219
Paspalum repens, photographed by Tyler Bishop
fig. c Tyler Bishop, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 54810227
Paspalum repens, photographed by Tyler Bishop
fig. d Tyler Bishop, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 54274091
Paspalum repens, photographed by Tyler Bishop
fig. e Tyler Bishop, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 54274114
Paspalum repens, photographed by Nicolas Olejnik
fig. f Nicolas Olejnik, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 1634255
Paspalum repens, photographed by Emily Geest
fig. g Emily Geest, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 115588491
Paspalum repens, photographed by Tia Tyler
fig. h Tia Tyler, CC0 1.0 / obs. 171334454

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 47 botanical countries

Regions where Paspalum repens is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mexico Southeast, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Argentina Northeast, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela AlabamaArkansasFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMarylandMexico SoutheastMississippiMissouriNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVirginiaWest VirginiaArgentina NortheastBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruSurinameTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela
Native distribution of Paspalum repens, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Belize BLZ
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
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arkansas ARK
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maryland MRY
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA

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 214 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -4.0 °C 6.8 °C 15.0 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 29.4 °C 31.5 °C 33.4 °C
Annual rainfall 1,018 mm 1,333 mm 1,748 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 98 mm 216 mm 338 mm

It is found where winters bring light 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 214 research-grade observations of Paspalum repens 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 16 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.

  • Axonopus repens (P.J.Bergius) Torrend
  • Ceresia fluitans Elliott
  • Cymatochloa fluitans (Elliott) Schltdl.
  • Cymatochloa pyramidalis (Nees) Döll
  • Cymatochloa repens (P.J.Bergius) Schltdl.
  • Paspalum bistipulatum Hochst. ex Steud.
  • Paspalum fluctuans Larrañaga
  • Paspalum fluitans (Elliott) Kunth
  • Paspalum frankii Steud.
  • Paspalum gracile Rudge
  • Paspalum mucronatum Muhl.
  • Paspalum natans Leconte
  • Paspalum paniculatum Walter
  • Paspalum pyramidale Nees
  • Paspalum repens var. fluitans (Elliott) Wipff & S.D.Jones
  • Paspalum repens var. repens

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. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol PAFL5. public domain. 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.