Setaria barbata(Lam.) Kunth

East Indian bristlegrass

WFO wfo-0000899029 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 5 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 5 times, 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.

Setaria barbata, photographed by 葉子
fig. a 葉子, CC0 1.0 / 2020-10-22 / obs. 103586819
Setaria barbata, photographed by Marcos Rodriguez Bobadilla
fig. b Marcos Rodriguez Bobadilla, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 28876090
Setaria barbata, photographed by Augustin Soulard
fig. c Augustin Soulard, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 193819524
Setaria barbata, photographed by 葉子
fig. d 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 103586827
Setaria barbata, photographed by Marcos Rodriguez Bobadilla
fig. e Marcos Rodriguez Bobadilla, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 28876086
Setaria barbata, photographed by Augustin Soulard
fig. f Augustin Soulard, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 193819617
Setaria barbata, photographed by Augustin Soulard
fig. g Augustin Soulard, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 194390107
Setaria barbata, photographed by Augustin Soulard
fig. h Augustin Soulard, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 194288793

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 51 botanical countries

Regions where Setaria barbata is native: Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Yemen, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya BeninBurkinaCameroonCentral African RepublicChadCongoDjiboutiDR CongoEritreaEthiopiaGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaMadagascarMaliMozambiqueNigerNigeriaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaYemenAssamBangladeshBorneoEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMyanmarNew GuineaPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSumateraThailandVietnamWest Himalaya Cape VerdeComorosSeychellesAndaman Is.
Native distribution of Setaria barbata, 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
Benin BEN AFRICA
Burkina BKN
Cameroon CMN
Cape Verde CVI
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Comoros COM
Congo CON
Djibouti DJI
DR Congo ZAI
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
Madagascar MDG
Mali MLI
Mozambique MOZ
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Senegal SEN
Seychelles SEY
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
Sri Lanka SRL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
Yemen YEM ASIA-TEMPERATE

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 31 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.

  • Chaetochloa barbata (Lam.) Hitchc. & Chase
  • Chaetochloa costata (Roxb.) Skeels
  • Chamaeraphis costata Kuntze
  • Chamaeraphis rachitricha (Hochst.) Kuntze
  • Chamaeraphis setosa var. elongata Kuntze
  • Chamaeraphis viatica (Salzm. ex Döll) Kuntze
  • Panicum barbatum Lam.
  • Panicum basisetum Steud.
  • Panicum bongaense Pilg.
  • Panicum costatum Roxb.
  • Panicum lineatum Schumach.
  • Panicum mauritianum Willd. ex Spreng.
  • Panicum nakaianum Honda
  • Panicum plicatum var. costatum (Roxb.) Baker
  • Panicum rarisetum Steud.
  • Panicum rhachitrichum Hochst.
  • Panicum thollonii Franch.
  • Panicum viaticum Salzm. ex Döll
  • Setaria barbata var. meiantha A.Chev.
  • Setaria basiseta (Steud.) T.Durand & Schinz
  • Setaria bongaensis (Pilg.) Mez
  • Setaria costata Vanderyst
  • Setaria flaccifolia Stapf
  • Setaria gracilipes C.E.Hubb.

and 7 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.