Setaria parviflora(Poir.) Kerguélen

Knotroot FoxtailMarsh Brittlegrassmarsh bristlegrass

WFO wfo-0000899442 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Setaria parviflora, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. a Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-02 / obs. 204044115
Setaria parviflora, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. b Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204041024
Setaria parviflora, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. c Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204044717
Setaria parviflora, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. d Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204040472
Setaria parviflora, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. e Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204040778
Setaria parviflora, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. f Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204034572
Setaria parviflora, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. g Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204043544
Setaria parviflora, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. h Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203964934

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 89 botanical countries

Regions where Setaria parviflora is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexican Pacific Is., Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Cayman Is., Central American Pacific Is., Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Desventurados Is., Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Galápagos, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Juan Fernández Is., Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Is., Uruguay, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is. AlabamaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMarylandMassachusettsMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMississippiMissouriNevadaNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasUtahVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestArgentina SouthBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralCentral American Pacific Is.Chile CentralChile NorthChile SouthColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.BahamasBermudaCayman Is.GalápagosLeeward Is.Turks-Caicos Is.Venezuelan AntillesWindward Is.
Native distribution of Setaria parviflora, 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
Central American Pacific Is. CPI
Chile Central CLC
Chile North CLN
Chile South CLS
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Desventurados Is. DSV
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Galápagos GAL
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Juan Fernández Is. JNF
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Turks-Caicos Is. TCI
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Venezuelan Antilles VNA
Windward Is. WIN
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
California CAL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexican Pacific Is. MXI
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Nevada NEV
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA

Not drawn on the map: Mexican Pacific Is., Desventurados Is., Juan Fernández Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

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.

Flowering 133 in flower of 224 examined

Peak flowering in Mar. Each bar is the share of Setaria parviflora observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 133 of 224 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 154 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.

  • Alopecurus rubicundus Buch.-Ham. ex Wall.
  • Cenchrus parviflorus Poir.
  • Cenchrus polystachios (L.) Morrone
  • Chaetochloa corrugata var. parviflora (Poir.) Scribn. & Merr.
  • Chaetochloa flava (Nees) Scribn.
  • Chaetochloa geniculata (Poir.) Millsp. & Chase
  • Chaetochloa geniculata var. geniculata
  • Chaetochloa geniculata var. perennis (Hall) House
  • Chaetochloa geniculata var. purpurascens (Elliott) Farw.
  • Chaetochloa gracilis (Kunth) Scribn. & Merr.
  • Chaetochloa imberbis (Poir.) Scribn.
  • Chaetochloa imberbis subsp. versicolor (E.P.Bicknell) W.Stone
  • Chaetochloa imberbis var. geniculata (Poir.) Scribn. & Merr.
  • Chaetochloa imberbis var. imberbis
  • Chaetochloa imberbis var. penicillata (J.Presl) Scribn. & Merr.
  • Chaetochloa imberbis var. perennis (Hall) Scribn. & Merr.
  • Chaetochloa imberbis var. streptobotrys (E.Fourn.) Scribn. & Merr.
  • Chaetochloa imberbis var. versicolor (E.P.Bicknell) W.Stone
  • Chaetochloa laevigata Scribn.
  • Chaetochloa occidentalis Nash
  • Chaetochloa parviflora (Poir.) Scribn.
  • Chaetochloa penicillata (J.Presl) Scribn.
  • Chaetochloa perennis (Hall) C.Bicknell
  • Chaetochloa purpurascens (Kunth) Scribn. & Merr.

and 130 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.