This species occurs along both the western and eastern coastal areas of the UAE (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Al Meharibi et al. 2019) and in the Hajar Mountains (Feulner 2011). Western (1983) reported the species from across Abu Dhabi Island; Western found it in the outfall of a sewage treatment works, so it may persist in anthropogenic habitats, and presence on the island is shown by Al Meharibi et al. (2019). Globally this species occurs in North and East Africa, southern Europe north to the UK, around the Mediterranean basin, to Central and East Asia. It has been introduced to the Americas, southern Africa and to Oceania (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

In the UAE, the species occurs in the Sweihan and Al Khazna areas, and the Hajar Mountains (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Al Mehairbi et al. 2019). The species has also been recorded from the Dubai Creek area (Sharjah Seedbank and Herbarium), where it is possibly introduced. The EOO, based on the Sweihan and the Hajar Mountains records, is 4,300 km². Globally this species occurs from Macaronesia, across North Africa and southern Europe, to the Middle East, Central Asia and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

The species was listed without detail for the UAE by Jongbloed et al. (2003). The first record found for the species in the country dates from 1857 (<a href=""https://herbarium.univie.ac.at/database/detail.php?ID=162724"">Herbarium, Institute of Botany, University of Vienna</a>). There are no detailed distribution data available for this species within the UAE. Globally, the native range of this species spans across the Americas, European continent, Africa, temperate and tropical Asia in addition to Australasia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Distribution of this species is recorded from wadis in the Hajar Mountains (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Al Mehairbi et al. 2019). Feulner (2016) did not find the species (as Eliocharis geniculata) in WWNP, but would expect it to be present. The estimated Extent of Occurrence (EOO) of this species is around 1,430 km². Globally, this is a pantropical species (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

Blumea bovei has been recorded within the Hajar Mountains, where it is considered to be widespread (Jongbloed et al. 2003, MEW 2010). Globally, the native range of this species spans from the Sahara to the Arabian Peninsula and on to India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

In the UAE, this species is restricted to the Hajar Mountains according to Jongbloed et al. (2003), but with additional records from Jebel Hafeet (Jebel Hafeet wadi; 1,240 m; Sakkir et al. 2018) and Wadi Wurayah National Park (Tourenq et al. 2009, Feulner 2011), although the latter record was from the outflow pool below the waterfall and the origin of the species here requires confirmation. The species is planted within sewage farms (MEW 2010) and Western (1982, 1983) recorded the species from the outfall of the old sewage farm on Abu Dhabi Island. The species also occurs in the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary in Dubai. Al Meharibi et al. (2019) show presence northwards through the Hajar Mountains to the Ru'us al-Jibal, although the species is not listed as present there by Feulner (2011). Globally, this species has an almost cosmopolitan distribution, absent only from northern latitudes in North America and Europe, although Plants of the World Online does not include the UAE in its distribution (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The native distribution of this species is uncertain because of taxonomic and identification confusions (CABI 2019), but we consider the species to probably be native to the UAE following draft Red List assessment for the Arabian Peninsula (Patzelt and Knees 2012).

In the UAE, the species is found in scattered, widespread localities, primarily through the Hajar Mountains, at edges of permanent water pools and in wet and moist places, such as in irrigated plantations (Jongbloed et al. 2003). The global range of this species are the tropics and subtropics (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species has been recorded a few times in the UAE in sandy habitats (Jongbloed et al. 2003, MEW 2010). Specifically, it is known from Masafi and Dibba, however without precise locality data Globally, Brachiaria eruciformis extends from Mediterranean Europe east through the Caucasus and Middle East to China. It occurs throughout much of Africa, South and Southeast Asia and Australia as well as the Caribbean and southern South America (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). In India it occurs in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Goa, Jammu-Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal (Kumar 2011).

Within the UAE, this species is confirmed from a single site (small rocky pools at the base of the waterfall and adjacent rocks) in Wadi Wurayah (first reported by V. Chalmers in 2009 (Feulner 2016); <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00647674"">RBG Edinburgh Herbarium</a> specimen collected 2013). The species was also recorded by Gallacher from the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, however this area represents a very different habitat and altitude, and the record requires confirmation. On a global scale, the species is native to temperate Eurasia, the Americas, North Africa, Australia and to the southwest Pacific (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018). In the Arabian Peninsula, this species is also known from scattered localities in Saudi Arabia (Chaudhary 2001) and from isolated springs and waterbodies in Oman (Patzelt 2014) and on Socotra (Miller and Morris 2004). The nearest confirmed locality to Wadi Wurayah is at the Jazirah oasis in Oman (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Feulner 2016), more than 100 km away.

The species is described as widespread within the Hajar Mountains (Jongbloed et al. 2003) and occurs to at least c. 1,525 m in the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011). However, this species is considered to be introduced to the UAE (Norton et al. 2009). Globally, it occurs across Europe and western Russia, the Sahara, the Mediterranean region, the Arabian Peninsula, and east to Pakistan and western India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). GRIN (2019) excludes the Arabian Peninsula from the native distribution.