Stapfochloa ciliata(Sw.) P.M.Peterson

fringed windmill grass

WFO wfo-0001330199 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 6 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 6 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.

Stapfochloa ciliata, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. a Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-05-15 / obs. 129155481
Stapfochloa ciliata, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. b Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 89760925
Stapfochloa ciliata, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. c Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 68933765
Stapfochloa ciliata, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. d Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 62599422
Stapfochloa ciliata, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. e Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 98800083
Stapfochloa ciliata, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. f Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 89760955
Stapfochloa ciliata, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. g Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 98800068
Stapfochloa ciliata, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. h Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 69721388

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 29 botanical countries

Regions where Stapfochloa ciliata is native: Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Texas, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Windward Is. Mexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestTexasArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestArgentina SouthBelizeBoliviaBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCubaDominican RepublicHaitiJamaicaNicaraguaParaguayPuerto RicoUruguayVenezuela BahamasLeeward Is.Netherlands AntillesWindward Is.
Native distribution of Stapfochloa ciliata, 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
Bolivia BOL
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Haiti HAI
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Netherlands Antilles NLA
Nicaragua NIC
Paraguay PAR
Puerto Rico PUE
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Texas TEX

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 11 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.

  • Andropogon pubescens Aiton
  • Chloris brachyathera (Parodi) Herter
  • Chloris ciliata Sw.
  • Chloris ciliata f. breviseta Hack.
  • Chloris ciliata f. reptans A.M.Molina & Rúgolo
  • Chloris ciliata var. brachyathera Parodi
  • Chloris ciliata var. texana Vasey
  • Chloris nashii A.Heller
  • Chloris propinqua Steud.
  • Chloris texana (Vasey) Nash
  • Cynodon ciliatus (Sw.) Raspail

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. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol CHCI. public domain. 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.