Paspalum vaginatum

Seashore paspalum

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Seashore paspalum is a naturalized perennial found in southern California coastal and desert regions in brackish and salt marshes at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from August to December, this plant produces white fertile florets in light straw-colored spikelets 3 to 4.5 millimeters long. Growing with creeping or clustered stems 10 to 79 centimeters tall, it spreads with glabrous nodes and ascending to erect growth. Its leaf blades extend up to 19 centimeters long, 1.4 to 8 millimeters wide, and are flat or slightly folded with glabrous or pubescent surfaces and incurved tips. The fruit is yellow, measuring 2.8 to 3.1 millimeters long.

Habitat: Brackish and salt marshes

Bloom period: Aug-Dec

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: SCo, DSon

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.