Doveweed
Murdannia nudiflora · Warm-season, Perennial (often treated as a weed in turfgrass)
Grass Family
Commelinaceae
Grass Category
Invasive/Weed Grass (Sedge/Herbaceous Weed often confused with grass)
Variety / Cultivar
Wild type
Hardiness Zones
USDA Hardiness Zones 8 to 11, highly sensitive to frost and enters dormancy or dies back in colder climates.
About This Grass
A low-growing, succulent, mat-forming herbaceous plant often mistaken for a grass. Features fleshy stems, bright green lanceolate leaves, and small, inconspicuous blue to purple flowers.
Blade Characteristics
Leaves are alternate, simple, lance-shaped to linear-lanceolate, measuring about 1 to 3 inches long and 0.25 to 0.5 inches wide, with parallel veins, smooth margins, and a clasping sheath around the stem.
Root System
Fibrous and shallow, with roots emerging easily from lower stem nodes, allowing it to spread rapidly and recover quickly from pulling.
Growing Information
Origin Region
Native to tropical Asia, naturalized throughout the southeastern United States and warm temperate regions worldwide.
Growth Habit
Stoloniferous and creeping, forming dense, low-growing mats with branching stems that root at the nodes.
Sunlight & Water Needs
Thrives in full sun to partial shade, highly adapted to wet, poorly drained soils, and overly irrigated turf areas. Moderate to high water requirement.
Mowing & Maintenance
Resistant to regular mowing due to its low-growing, prostrate habit. Mowing often spreads pieces that can re-root. Requires selective herbicides or manual removal for control.
Special Characteristics
Extremely difficult to control in lawns due to tolerance of low mowing heights and ability to propagate from vegetative stem fragments.
Ecological Information
An introduced invasive weed species in turfgrass management systems, providing little positive ecological value in cultivated lawns while acting as a persistent ground cover in damp soils.