--- title: Paspalum Grass canonical: https://fernland.com.au/problem-solver/paspalum-grass/ dateModified: 2026-08-07 09:38:25 summary: "Identify Paspalum dilatatum, a coarse perennial grass weed of turf, lawns, pastures and irrigated landscapes. Learn how to recognise its clumps, broad leaves and finger-like seed heads, and manage spread." type: article keywords: [Paspalum Grass, Paspalum dilatatum] --- # Paspalum Grass > Identify Paspalum dilatatum, a coarse perennial grass weed of turf, lawns, pastures and irrigated landscapes. Learn how to recognise its clumps, broad leaves and finger-like seed heads, and manage spread. *Paspalum dilatatum* Paspalum is a tufted, perennial, warm-season grass that forms coarse clumps with broad, flat, light to mid-green leaf blades that are noticeably wider and softer than most desirable turf species. It grows from a short, thick rootstock with fibrous roots and can develop shallow rhizomes, allowing established clumps to persist and slowly expand. The seedhead is the most distinctive identifying feature: a tall, upright flower stem bearing two to several finger-like racemes carrying rows of flattened seeds, often with dark purplish-black anthers protruding, giving mature seedheads a distinctive fringed appearance. Seedlings emerge from germinating seed as broad, pale green blades that quickly form a low rosette before tillering out into a clump. As the plant matures it produces tall seed stalks that rise well above the mown turf canopy within days of mowing, making paspalum highly visible in lawns and sports turf even when vegetative growth is kept short. It is a common weed of lawns, sports fields, golf courses, pastures and roadsides throughout the warmer and temperate regions of Australia, particularly in coastal and higher-rainfall districts. Growth is most vigorous during the warmer months from spring through to autumn, with seedheads appearing rapidly after rain or irrigation, especially in poorly maintained or thin turf. Management relies on maintaining a dense, competitive turf sward through appropriate fertility, mowing height and irrigation to reduce establishment opportunities, combined with regular removal of seedheads to limit further spread. Isolated clumps in high-value turf are often physically removed, while selective control in established grass areas is timed to actively growing plants and may need repeat treatment given the plant's persistent rootstock and seed bank. ## How to identify - Coarse, light green clumps that stand out against finer-textured, darker turf, disrupting uniformity and playing surface quality. - Rapid regrowth of tall seed stalks within days of mowing, giving an untidy, uneven appearance to otherwise recently cut turf. - Distinctive seedheads with two or more finger-like spikes and dark anthers, visible above the canopy even in low-cut turf. - Confirm identification by examining leaf width and texture — paspalum blades are broader and softer than surrounding turf grasses — and by checking for the characteristic fringed, dark-tipped seedhead. - Can be confused with couch or kikuyu runners in vegetative state, but paspalum forms a distinct upright clump rather than spreading stolons, and its seedhead is unmistakable once present. - Also confused with summer grass (*Digitaria* species), which has finer leaves and a smaller, less robust seedhead than paspalum. ## Registered products we stock - [Barricade Pre-Emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/barricade-pre-emergent-herbicide/) — Syngenta - [Tribute Turf Post-emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/tribute-turf-post-emergent-herbicide/) — Envu - [Sayonara 10 GR Pre-Emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/sayonara-10-gr-pre-emergent-herbicide/) — Farmalinx - [Fusilade Forte 128EC Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/fusilade-forte-128ec-herbicide/) — Syngenta - [Barricade HG | Pre-Emergent Herbicide | 250mL](https://fernland.com.au/barricade-hg-pre-emergent-herbicide-250ml/) — Syngenta - [Passtox Clear (DSMA) Selective Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/passtox-clear-dsma-selective-herbicide/) — Colin Campbell Chemicals - [Crab Grass & Clover Killer Selective Weedkiller](https://fernland.com.au/crab-grass-clover-killer-selective-weedkiller/) — David Grays - [Gauntlet Post-emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/gauntlet-post-emergent-herbicide/) — Adama - [Onset 10 GR Pre-Emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/onset-10-gr-pre-emergent-herbicide/) — ProForce - [Surefire Flupropanate | Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/surefire-flupropanate-herbicide/) — PCT SureFire - [Crucial Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/crucial-herbicide/) — Nufarm - [Weedmaster Duo Glyphosate 360 Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/weedmaster-duo-glyphosate-360-herbicide/) — Nufarm - [Glyphosate Weedpro 360 Bio Aqua Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/glyphosate-weedpro-360-bio-aqua-herbicide/) — PCT SureFire - [Glyphosate 360 Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/glyphosate-360-herbicide/) — PCT SureFire - [Glyphosate Weedpro 540 Bio Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/glyphosate-weedpro-540-bio-herbicide/) — PCT SureFire - [Weedmaster DST Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/weedmaster-dst-herbicide/) — Nufarm - [Gamma | Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/gamma-herbicide/) — PCT SureFire - [Arsenal Super Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/arsenal-super-herbicide/) — BASF - [Roundup Advance Green Concentrate CRC](https://fernland.com.au/roundup-advance-green-concentrate-crc/) — Roundup ## Image credits - [Photo: Didier Descouens via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:(MHNT)_Paspalum_dilatatum_inflorescences.jpg) - [Photo: harum.koh from Kobe city, Japan via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dallis_grass_(Paspalum_dilatatum)_(21948758889).jpg) - [Photo: Philmarin via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:(ALB)_P._dilatatum-1.jpg)