Smut-grass

Sporobolus indicus

Found in low prairies and swales, roadsides, lawns, disturbed situations. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

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

Profile 65%

Height: Up to about 4 feet
Light: Full sun
Soil moisture: Dry to moist

Sporobolus indicus — fruit photograph — Forest and Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0 us · Original photograph

At a glance

Life cycle: Annual or perennial

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

Bloom: recorded only in the FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) phone app (app page).

Spread and leaves: no source found yet.

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

Recorded in 64 Florida counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.

Limestone prairie. Shown: Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Georgia, a neighboring state.Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Habitats

Prairies and grasslands; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

4CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Sporobolus

Dichagyris reliquaRelict Prairie Dart
Leucania humidicolaSugarcane Budworm Moth
Panoquina panoquinoidesObscure Skipper, Beach Skipper
Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

—Specialist beesPollen specialists

10BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Sporobolus

Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
Ammospiza leconteiiLeConte's Sparrow
Calcarius ornatusChestnut-collared Longspur
Calcarius pictusSmith's Longspur
Catharus fuscescensVeery
Euphagus cyanocephalusBrewer's Blackbird
Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
Pooecetes gramineusVesper Sparrow

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Poaceae
Flower color: White or green

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

Growing sources and scope

Flower color · “White or green” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Height · “Up to about 4 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Life cycle · “Annual or 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

Also known as

Smut Grass Dropseed; Smut grass; Sporobolus poiretii

Conservation status

Florida rank	SNA
Global rank	G5
FL status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

Native alternatives

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