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hilograss

Paspalum conjugatum ยท Poaceae

hilograss (Paspalum conjugatum)
Photo: (c) Joe Dillon, some rights reserved (CC BY) ยท CC BY ยท via iNaturalist

hilograss (Paspalum conjugatum) is a perennial grass or grass-like plant in the Poaceae family. It is native to North America. USDA records it as hardy in zone 8 and warmer, down to about 15ยฐF.

At a glance

Typegraminoid USDA
Lifecycleperennial USDA
Native statusnative USDA
Mature height3 ft USDA
Lightshade USDA
Water needmedium USDA
Growth raterapid USDA
Soil pH5โ€“7 USDA
Flower colorYellow USDA
Hardiness zones8 and warmer USDA
Guild layerground-cover Derived
Nursery availabilityNo Known Source USDA

USDA quoted from the USDA PLANTS database ยท Derived computed by a fixed rule from those columns. No value on this page is estimated.

Growing conditions

It tolerates full shade. USDA rates it as having moderate water needs. It is recorded on soils from pH 5 to 7 โ€” a broad range that spans acidic through mildly alkaline ground. Its cold limit is zone 8; USDA publishes no warm-end limit, so gardeners in warmer zones should check local heat tolerance separately.

Size and growth

At maturity it reaches about 3 ft, making it a low to knee-height plant. It grows quickly, which matters when you are timing a planting around the layers above it.

Role in a guild

Ground cover. In a layered planting this is the lowest layer โ€” it shades soil, holds moisture, and suppresses weeds. We derive the layer from the plant's growth habit and mature height using a fixed rule, so the same inputs always produce the same layer.

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Tags

evergreendrought-toleranthedgewet-tolerantclay-tolerantsandy-soildeer-resistantspreadingnativeshade-tolerantfast-growingground-cover

Related plants

Others in Paspalum

Similar role and hardiness

Where this data comes from

Every value on this page comes from the USDA PLANTS database record for symbol PACO14, or is computed from those values by a fixed rule. Nothing here is estimated or model-generated. Where USDA publishes no value, this page omits the claim rather than filling the gap.

Read our full data sources and methodology.

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