Paspalum setaceumMichx.

thin paspalum

WFO wfo-0000888452 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Paspalum setaceum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. a Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-04-23 / obs. 190490175

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
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
1762028
Filed as
Paspalum setaceum var. muhlenbergii (Nash) D.J.Banks
Det. by
D. E. Atha 2015-01-01
Collected
G. V. Nash 1896-09-21
Origin
US
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 63 botanical countries

Regions where Paspalum setaceum is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Is., Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Is., Windward Is. AlabamaArizonaArkansasColoradoConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMarylandMassachusettsMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsinBelizeCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEl SalvadorHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáPuerto RicoTrinidad-Tobago DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.BahamasBermudaCayman Is.Leeward Is.Turks-Caicos Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Paspalum setaceum, 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
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Bahamas BAH SOUTHERN AMERICA
Belize BLZ
Bermuda BER
Cayman Is. CAY
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
El Salvador ELS
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Puerto Rico PUE
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Turks-Caicos Is. TCI
Windward Is. WIN

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 1,014 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -10.9 °C 5.4 °C 16.5 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 26.9 °C 31.7 °C 35.0 °C
Annual rainfall 763 mm 1,151 mm 1,558 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 72 mm 193 mm 297 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 1,014 research-grade observations of Paspalum setaceum 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 44 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.

  • Paspalum blepharophyllum Nash
  • Paspalum bushii Nash
  • Paspalum chapmanii Nash
  • Paspalum ciliatifolium Trin.
  • Paspalum ciliatifolium Michx.
  • Paspalum ciliatifolium var. brevifolium Vasey
  • Paspalum ciliatifolium var. ciliatifolium
  • Paspalum ciliatifolium var. dasyphyllum (Elliott) Chapm.
  • Paspalum ciliatifolium var. muhlenbergii (Nash) Fernald
  • Paspalum ciliatifolium var. stramineum (Nash) Fernald
  • Paspalum dasyphyllum Elliott
  • Paspalum debile Muhl.
  • Paspalum debile Michx.
  • Paspalum dissectum Walter
  • Paspalum dubium DC.
  • Paspalum eggertii Nash
  • Paspalum epile Nash
  • Paspalum eriophorum Willd. ex Nees
  • Paspalum incertum Roem. & Schult.
  • Paspalum infirmum Roem. & Schult.
  • Paspalum kentuckiense Nash
  • Paspalum latifolium Leconte
  • Paspalum leptostachyum DC.
  • Paspalum longepedunculatum Leconte

and 20 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.