Native & Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas & Georgia

Search by scientific name

OR search by...

3541

Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Perennial

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Documented growing wild in GA NC SC

Common (rare in Piedmont) (rare in NC)

Look for it in fields, roadsides, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora

map
To see a detailed map, click here

 

IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Spikelets subtended by an involucre of spines and/or bristles fused into a bur

LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate, 2-ranked

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Grain brownish
Grain

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
 Cenchrus incertus   FAMILY Poaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
 Cenchrus spinifex   FAMILY Poaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 029-69-004:
 Cenchrus incertus   FAMILY Poaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
 Cenchrus incertus

 

COMMON NAME:
 Coastal Sandspur

Click or hover over the thumbnails to see larger pictures.

image of Cenchrus incertus, Coastal Sandspur

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950    pnd_cein4_001_lhd

        

image of Cenchrus incertus, Coastal Sandspur

Gill Newberry    gn09_c_spinifex_inf

September        

Raceme 4-10cm long, the burs not crowded, body finely and densely pubescent, per Manual of the Grasses of the United States.

image of Cenchrus incertus, Coastal Sandspur

Gill Newberry    gn09_cenchrus_closeup

September        

Involucre of spines fused into a bur; spines stout, 2-5mm long, per Weakley's Flora (2015).