Index / Search / Vetiveria zizanioides

§1 Plant

Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash

vernacular vetivergrass — species · Poaceae


USDA
VEZI80
GBIF
7352653
Rank
species
vetivergrass (Vetiveria zizanioides)

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Vetiveria
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
  • PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Introduced
  • PR Puerto Rico Introduced
§2b

County-level range

· 7 counties across 2 states/territories
Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 7 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Low
Fire
High
Salinity
Medium
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
High
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
14 °F minimum
Frost-free days
365 min.
Precipitation
12–200 in/yr
pH range
3–8
Root depth
24 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Bunch
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
7 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Moderate
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
Yes
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Summer
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Fall
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Propagation
seed, bare root, container, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 7 counties across 2 states/territories.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/VEZI80 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/7352653 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T12:30:10Z