Sporobolus spicatus(Vahl) Kunth

Salt grass

WFO wfo-0000901491 Accepted WFO 2026-06 3 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–c · 1 observation

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 1 time, 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.

Sporobolus spicatus, photographed by Jacky Judas
fig. a Jacky Judas, CC BY 4.0 / 2019-08-13 / obs. 48040410
Sporobolus spicatus, photographed by Jacky Judas
fig. b Jacky Judas, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 48040418
Sporobolus spicatus, photographed by Jacky Judas
fig. c Jacky Judas, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 48040426

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 39 botanical countries

Regions where Sporobolus spicatus is native: Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Socotra, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gulf States, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Yemen, Assam, India, West Himalaya AlgeriaAngolaBotswanaBurundiChadDjiboutiDR CongoEgyptEritreaEthiopiaGambiaKenyaLibyaMalawiMaliMauritaniaMoroccoNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaUgandaZambiaZimbabweGulf StatesOmanSaudi ArabiaSinaiYemenAssamIndiaWest Himalaya Cape Verde
Native distribution of Sporobolus spicatus, 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
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Angola ANG
Botswana BOT
Burundi BUR
Cape Verde CVI
Chad CHA
Djibouti DJI
DR Congo ZAI
Egypt EGY
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Gambia GAM
Kenya KEN
Libya LBY
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Morocco MOR
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Socotra SOC
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Gulf States GST ASIA-TEMPERATE
Oman OMA
Saudi Arabia SAU
Sinai SIN
Yemen YEM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
India IND
West Himalaya WHM

Not drawn on the map: Socotra. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is 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.

Also published as 8 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.

  • Agrostis involuta Poir.
  • Agrostis spicata Vahl
  • Agrostis virginica Forssk.
  • Crypsis myosurus Nees ex Steud.
  • Heleochloa myosurus (Nees ex Steud.) T.Durand & Schinz
  • Sporobolus faucicola Peter
  • Vilfa involuta (Poir.) P.Beauv.
  • Vilfa spicata (Vahl) P.Beauv.

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.