Sporobolus indicus
Smut grass
(c) Kevin Faccenda, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Poaceae · Type: Grass · Not Native
Sporobolus indicus (Smut grass) is a non-native California grass in the Poaceae family, recognized by short jagged glumes, 4-angled fruit.
Smut grass is a naturalized perennial grass found in the northern San Joaquin Valley, central western California, southern California coastal regions, and Peninsular Ranges in open, disturbed areas and roadsides at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering from April to November, this grass produces green to lead-colored spikelets in dense, contracted terminal clusters. Growing in tufted clumps with erect stems 30 to 60 centimeters tall, the plant forms distinctive green to brown dense clusters. Its leaves are narrow, 6 to 30 centimeters long and only 1 to 5 millimeters wide, with glabrous or slightly ciliate margins. The fruit is a small, red-brown, four-angled structure approximately 1 to 1.2 millimeters long.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 10 sympatric species; key features are short jagged glumes, 4-angled fruit
Habitat and range
Habitat: Open, disturbed areas, roadsides
Elevation: < 1200 m
California counties: San Diego, Riverside, El Dorado, Orange, San Bernardino, Tulare, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tehama, Marin, Santa Barbara, San Joaquin, Tuolumne, Sacramento, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Glenn, Sonoma, Yuba, Solano, Butte, Sutter, Mendocino, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Luis Obispo, Yolo, Merced, Shasta, Monterey
Outside California: to southeastern United States, Caribbean, Mexico, pantropical
Bloom period
Sporobolus indicus blooms Apr-Nov.
How to tell it apart
vs Typha: Typha (cattails) has thick, sausage-like brown flower spikes and wide strap-like leaves, not grass flowers.; vs Distichlis: Distichlis forms stiff colonies in salt marshes with distinctly two-ranked leaves, lacking ciliate sheaths.; vs Muhlenbergia: Sporobolus has fringed hairs on leaf sheath margins; Muhlenbergia sheaths are smooth.; vs Leymus: Leymus has spike-like inflorescences with spikelets in pairs, not the open panicles of Sporobolus.; vs Oloptum: Oloptum has prominent bent awns and plumose hairs; Sporobolus is awnless with ciliate sheaths.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sporobolus indicus native to California?
No. Sporobolus indicus is not native to California (recorded as not native).
When does Sporobolus indicus bloom?
Sporobolus indicus blooms Apr-Nov.
Where in California does Sporobolus indicus grow?
Sporobolus indicus occurs in San Diego, Riverside, El Dorado, Orange, San Bernardino, Tulare, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other counties, at elevations of < 1200 m.
What plant family does Sporobolus indicus belong to?
Sporobolus indicus is in the Poaceae family, genus Sporobolus.
What habitat does Sporobolus indicus grow in?
Sporobolus indicus grows in Open, disturbed areas, roadsides.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.