Paspalum vaginatumSw.

Seashore paspalumseashore paspalum

WFO wfo-0000888601 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Paspalum vaginatum, photographed by Kym Nicolson
fig. a Kym Nicolson, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-02 / obs. 194402438
Paspalum vaginatum, photographed by Kym Nicolson
fig. b Kym Nicolson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 194402366
Paspalum vaginatum, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. c Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 182513665
Paspalum vaginatum, photographed by Saryu Mae 前 朝琉
fig. d Saryu Mae 前 朝琉, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 176346521
Paspalum vaginatum, photographed by Joe Dillon
fig. e Joe Dillon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 175976556
Paspalum vaginatum, photographed by Kym Nicolson
fig. f Kym Nicolson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 127871097
Paspalum vaginatum, photographed by Ruth Gutiérrez Oliveros
fig. g Ruth Gutiérrez Oliveros, CC0 1.0 / obs. 125012328
Paspalum vaginatum, photographed by 葉子
fig. h 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 118901552

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 54 botanical countries

Regions where Paspalum vaginatum is native: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Cayman Is., Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Galápagos, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, Windward Is. AlabamaFloridaGeorgiaLouisianaMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMississippiNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaTexasArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestArgentina SouthBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralChile CentralChile NorthChile SouthColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela BahamasBermudaCayman Is.GalápagosLeeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Paspalum vaginatum, 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
Argentina South AGS
Bahamas BAH
Belize BLZ
Bermuda BER
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Cayman Is. CAY
Chile Central CLC
Chile North CLN
Chile South CLS
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Galápagos GAL
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 Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Mississippi MSI
North Carolina NCA
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 484 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 7.8 °C 11.3 °C 24.1 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 21.1 °C 26.4 °C 30.2 °C
Annual rainfall 302 mm 1,274 mm 2,992 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 4 mm 154 mm 365 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 484 research-grade observations of Paspalum vaginatum 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 40 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.

  • Digitaria foliosa Lag.
  • Digitaria paspalodes var. longipes (Lange) Willk. & Lange
  • Digitaria tristachya Schult.
  • Digitaria vaginata (Sw.) Philippe
  • Digitaria vaginata (Sw.) Magnier
  • Digitaria vaginata var. longipes (Lange) Sennen
  • Panicum littorale (R.Br.) Kuntze
  • Panicum vaginatum (Sw.) Godr.
  • Paspalum boryanum J.Presl
  • Paspalum brachiatum Trin. ex Nees
  • Paspalum didactylum Salzm. ex Steud.
  • Paspalum distichum subsp. vaginatum (Sw.) Maire
  • Paspalum distichum var. ampinense Hayata
  • Paspalum distichum var. anpinense Hayata
  • Paspalum distichum var. littorale F.M.Bailey
  • Paspalum distichum var. longerepens Domin
  • Paspalum distichum var. nanum (Döll) Stapf
  • Paspalum distichum var. tristachyum (Schult.) Alph.Wood
  • Paspalum distichum var. vaginatum (Sw.) Griseb.
  • Paspalum fissifolium Nees ex Döll
  • Paspalum foliosum (Lag.) Kunth
  • Paspalum furcatum var. fissum Döll
  • Paspalum gayanum É.Desv.
  • Paspalum inflatum A.Rich.

and 16 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.