States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaFloridaVirginia
Menu

Wild Sugarcane

Saccharum spontaneum

Found in disturbed areas, lake edges, especially around Lake Okeechobee in vicinity of sugarcane fields. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

—
Not native

Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 12%

At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 6 Florida counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Georgia pond and emergent wetland
Regional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

36CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Saccharum

  • Acrolophus heppneriHeppner's Grass-Tubeworm
  • Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
  • Agrotis malefidaRascal Dart, Pale-Sided Cut-Worm, Shagreened Cut-Worm
  • Amblyscirtes vialisCommon Roadside-Skipper, Black Little Skipper
  • Anatrytone loganDelaware Skipper, Logan Skipper, Black-Vein Skipper
  • Atrytone byssusByssus Skipper, Golden Skipper
  • Calpodes ethliusBrazilian Skipper, Canna Skipper, Canna Leafroller
  • Cymaenes tripunctusThree-Spotted Skipper
  • Diatraea crambidoidesSouthern Cornstalk Borer
  • Elaphria agrotinaBicolored Midget
Show all 36
  • Elaphria chalcedoniaChalcedony Midget
  • Elaphria festivoidesSouthern Festive Midget
  • Elaphria nucicoloraSugarcane Midget, Sugarcane Moth
  • Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
  • Feltia repletaReplete Dart
  • Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
  • Herpetogramma bipunctalisSouthern Beet Webworm, Two-Spotted Herpetogramma
  • Hylephila phyleusFiery Skipper
  • Lerema acciusClouded Skipper, Corn Leaf tier
  • Lerodea eufalaEufala Skipper, Gray Skipper, Rice Leafroller
  • Leucania humidicolaSugarcane Budworm Moth
  • Leucania subpunctataWhite-Dotted Wainscot, Forage Armyworm
  • Meropleon cosmionComely Brocade
  • Mocis disseveransYellow Mocis
  • Mocis latipesSmall Mocis, Striped Grass Looper
  • Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
  • Nomophila nearcticaLucerne Moth, American Celery Webworm
  • Panoquina ocolaOcola Skipper, Long-Winged Skiiper
  • Panoquina panoquinoidesObscure Skipper, Beach Skipper
  • Polites baracoaBaracoa Skipper, Little Tawny Edge Skipper
  • Polites othoSouthern Broken-Dash, Broken-Dash Skipper
  • Spodoptera albulaWhite-Spotted Armyworm, Gray-Streaked Armyworm
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
  • Vernia vernaLittle Glassywing
  • Chilo erianthalis
  • Leucania latiuscula
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Poaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Conservation status

Florida rankSNA
Global rankNot available
FL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source

Native alternatives

Find natives for your garden

Sources