Tripogonella spicata(Nees) P.M.Peterson & Romasch.

American fiveminute grass

WFO wfo-0001348188 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 4 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 4 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.

Tripogonella spicata, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. a Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / 2016-09-21 / obs. 9658067
Tripogonella spicata, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. b Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 9658068
Tripogonella spicata, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. c Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 9658069
Tripogonella spicata, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. d Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 401336
Tripogonella spicata, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. e Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 518145
Tripogonella spicata, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. f Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 518146
Tripogonella spicata, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. g Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 23452489
Tripogonella spicata, photographed by Carlos Martorell
fig. h Carlos Martorell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 23452501

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 26 botanical countries

Regions where Tripogonella spicata is native: Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Texas, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Chile North, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela Mexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastTexasArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBoliviaBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralChile NorthColombiaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorGuatemalaHaitiHondurasNicaraguaParaguayPeruUruguayVenezuela
Native distribution of Tripogonella spicata, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Bolivia BOL
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Chile North CLN
Colombia CLM
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Nicaragua NIC
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
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.

  • Bromus spicatus Nees
  • Diplachne reverchonii Vasey
  • Diplachne simplex Döll
  • Diplachne spicata (Nees) Döll ex Benth.
  • Rabdochloa spicata (Nees) Stuck.
  • Sieglingia schaffneri (S.Watson) Kuntze
  • Sieglingia spicata (Nees) Kuntze ex Stuck.
  • Tricuspis simplex Griseb.
  • Triodia schaffneri S.Watson
  • Triplasis setacea Griseb.
  • Tripogon spicatus (Nees) Ekman

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 TRSP. 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.