Eragrostis variabilis (Gaudich.) Steud.

vernacular kawelu — species · Poaceae

USDA: ERVA
GBIF: 2705433
Rank: species

kawelu (Eragrostis variabilis) — Platephotograph · Kevin FaccendaCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Graminoid
Duration: Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Poaceae Barnhart
Genus: Eragrostis

§2a

Native status, by region

HI Hawaii Native
PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Native

§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 4 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: High
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: None
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 40 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
Precipitation: 17–70 in/yr
pH range: 5–6
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 3 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Stratify: No
Propagation: seed, sod

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
Nursery stock: No
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.

Hawaii view state ↗ 4 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ERVA ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2705433 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T14:42:51Z