Florida Paspalum
Paspalum floridanum
Found in longleaf pine sandhills, pine savannas, hammock edges, moist forests, ditches, barrens, prairies, fields, roadsides. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 7 feet
- Spread
- 3–4 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
Space about 3.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 8 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- March to December
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 51 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
17CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Paspalum
- Anicla infectaGreen Cutworm Moth
- Argyrotaenia ivanaIvana Leafroller Moth
- Diatraea evanescensBlack-Dot Diatraea
- Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
- Hedone vibexWhirlabout
- Herpetogramma phaeopteralisDusky Herpetogramma Moth,
- Hylephila phyleusFiery Skipper
- Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
- Lerema acciusClouded Skipper, Corn Leaf tier
- Lerodea eufalaEufala Skipper, Gray Skipper, Rice Leafroller
Show all 17
- Mocis texanaTexas Mocis
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Polites othoSouthern Broken-Dash, Broken-Dash Skipper
- Redectis vitreaWhite-Spotted Redactis
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
7BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Paspalum
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
17BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Paspalum
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Aix sponsaWood Duck
- Anthus rubescensAmerican Pipit
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
- Dolichonyx oryzivorusBobolink
- Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
Show all 17
- Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
- Porzana carolinaSora
- Quiscalus mexicanusGreat-tailed Grackle
- Quiscalus quisculaCommon Grackle
- Rallus elegansKing Rail
- Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 5–9
- Flower color
- White, green or brown
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “March to December” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White, green or brown” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Hardiness · “Zones 5–9” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Height · “Up to about 7 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Spread · “3–4 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Also known as
Florida Crown Grass
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications