the plant is established in sandy coastal habitat on the united states' gulf coast, such as beaches and dunes, from florida to texas. there it occurs with beach plants such as turtleweed ("batis maritima"), saltgrass ("distichlis spicata"), marsh fimbry ("fimbristylis castanea"), largeleaf pennywort ("hydrocotyle bonariensis"), and dwarf saltwort ("salicornia bigelovii"). it grows on many barrier islands. it grows in many types of wetland habitat, in and out of the water. it grows in freshwater marshes, salt marshes, mud flats, wet prairies, tide pools, bogs, and lakesides. it also invades drier habitat, such as coastal pine forests and white sand scrub. it easily moves into disturbed and cultivated areas such as ditches and canals. it is a nuisance in sod production. in hawaii, it is a weed of sugarcane ("saccharum officinarum"). in other areas it can be found in turf and orchards. in the florida turfgrass industry it is the second worst weed known. the grass can grow in a variety of habitats, but it does not tolerate cold and it is rarely found above subtropical latitudes or at altitude.