Sporobolus vaginiflorus(Torr. ex A.Gray) Alph.Wood

poverty dropseedpoverty grasssheathed dropseed

WFO wfo-0000901550 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Sporobolus vaginiflorus, photographed by Henry "Nick" Robertson
fig. a Henry "Nick" Robertson, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2021-11-06 / obs. 167770758
Sporobolus vaginiflorus, photographed by Henry "Nick" Robertson
fig. b Henry "Nick" Robertson, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 164197702
Sporobolus vaginiflorus, photographed by Henry "Nick" Robertson
fig. c Henry "Nick" Robertson, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 163362842
Sporobolus vaginiflorus, photographed by Henry "Nick" Robertson
fig. d Henry "Nick" Robertson, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 162803310
Sporobolus vaginiflorus, photographed by Henry "Nick" Robertson
fig. e Henry "Nick" Robertson, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 162804943
Sporobolus vaginiflorus, photographed by Henry "Nick" Robertson
fig. f Henry "Nick" Robertson, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 162805139
Sporobolus vaginiflorus, photographed by Jo Roberts
fig. g Jo Roberts, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 162274921
Sporobolus vaginiflorus, photographed by Henry "Nick" Robertson
fig. h Henry "Nick" Robertson, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 161974342

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 47 botanical countries

Regions where Sporobolus vaginiflorus is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlabamaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriNebraskaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNova ScotiaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsin DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Sporobolus vaginiflorus, 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
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Nebraska NEB
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS

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 12 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 vaginiflora (Torr. ex A.Gray) Torr. ex A.Gray
  • Cryptostachys vaginata Steud.
  • Sporobolus airoides var. minor (Vasey) Beetle
  • Sporobolus filiculmis L.H.Dewey
  • Sporobolus minor Vasey
  • Sporobolus ovatus Beal
  • Sporobolus vaginatus (Steud.) Scribn.
  • Sporobolus vaginiflorus var. inaequalis Fernald
  • Sporobolus vaginiflorus var. minor Scribn.
  • Sporobolus vaginiflorus var. vaginiflorus
  • Vilfa riehlii Steud.
  • Vilfa vaginiflora Torr. ex A.Gray

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.