Setaria magnaGriseb.

giant bristlegrass

WFO wfo-0000899369 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Setaria magna, photographed by Bonnie Semmling
fig. a Bonnie Semmling, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-10-02 / obs. 161166630
Setaria magna, photographed by Alan Weakley
fig. b Alan Weakley, CC0 1.0 / obs. 58607826
Setaria magna, photographed by Sandra Keller
fig. c Sandra Keller, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 25095698
Setaria magna, photographed by Zihao Wang
fig. d Zihao Wang, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 167780244
Setaria magna, photographed by Karen McCabe
fig. e Karen McCabe, CC0 1.0 / obs. 50358738
Setaria magna, photographed by Dan Johnson
fig. f Dan Johnson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 102939495
Setaria magna, photographed by Tom Field
fig. g Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 95690596
Setaria magna, photographed by Alison Northup
fig. h Alison Northup, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 28507028

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 31 botanical countries

Regions where Setaria magna is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil South, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, French Guiana, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Puerto Rico, Suriname, Venezuela, Windward Is. AlabamaArkansasFloridaGeorgiaLouisianaMarylandMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMississippiNew JerseyNew MexicoNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaTexasVirginiaArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBoliviaBrazil SouthColombiaCosta RicaCubaFrench GuianaJamaicaPuerto RicoSurinameVenezuela DelawareBermudaLeeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Setaria magna, 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
Arkansas ARK
Delaware DEL
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Louisiana LOU
Maryland MRY
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mississippi MSI
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
North Carolina NCA
South Carolina SCA
Texas TEX
Virginia VRG
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Bermuda BER
Bolivia BOL
Brazil South BZS
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
French Guiana FRG
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Venezuela VEN
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.

Also published as 2 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 magna (Griseb.) Scribn.
  • Chamaeraphis magna (Griseb.) Beal

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.