This species is found in scattered locations within the east of the UAE. Jongbloed et al. (2003) report it from mountains and wadis, and show scattered point localities east of Al Ain, from near Hatta, and two other eastern localities, but also show a significant distribution along the coast east of Abu Dhabi city. Feulner (2011) reports occurrence in the Hajar Mountains (wadis, lower slopes, foothills and alluvial plains) without details. Mahmoud et al. (2018) reported the species from plantations along the western slopes of the Hajar Mountains. <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00003768"">RBGE Herbarium </a>holds a specimen from the east coast from the 'Kalba date gardens' (1993). The Sharjah Seedbank & Herbarium hold records of this species from near Wahala (Sharjah) to the east near the border with Oman, from the Ras Al-Khaimah coast east at Jazirat Al Hamra, from the Sharjah-Abu Dhabi border north of Al Shwalb, and from south of Dubai city. It has also been reported from Jebel Nazwar. The native distribution of this species is from north-east Africa (Egypt to Kenya) to north-west India, and it has been introduced to the Americas (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

This is a common and widespread species in the Hajar Mountains (Jongbloed et al. 2003) and also is recorded south to Jebel Hafeet (Sakkir and Brown 2014). Al Meharibi et al. (2019) show presence of this throughout the east coast. The species is recorded from the Ru'us al-Jibal, although uncertain if from parts of the mountains within the UAE, and confusion is possible with other members of the genus (Feulner 2011). Feulner (2016) considers only this species of Cymbopogon to present in Wadi Wurayah. The native range of this species is in Africa from the Sahara and the Sahel to Kenya, east through the Arabian Peninsula to Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species was recorded in the Ru'us al-Jibal under the name, Cymbopogon jwarancuse (Jongbloed et al. 2003). It is thought to prefer high elevations (Patzelt 2015), having been recorded from the summit of Ra's Mintera, c. 1880 m asl, in the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011). Globally, the native range of this species spans from Turkey to Socotra and on to China (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Plants of the World Online lists the UAE as a native country of occurrence for this species (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species is recorded from the plains at the foot of Jebel Hafeet and along the east coast of the UAE (Jongbloed et al. 2003). This species tends to occur at lower altitudes and on gentler slopes (Ghazanfar and Fisher 1998, Feulner 2011). The estimated EOO is 7,369 km², however the AOO and the current number of locations is unknown. Its native range is from Macaronesia to India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

In the UAE, the species occurs in the Hajar Mountains and east of Al Ain (Jongbloed et al. 2003). It has been recorded from Wadi Wurayah National Park (Judas 2016) and the park buffer zone (upper Wadi Ghulayyil Khun; Feulner 2016), Wadi Tarabat on Jebel Hafeet (Fawzi and Ksiksi 2012) and from the ""Olive Highlands"", although much less common there than at lower elevations in the mountains (Feulner 2014). MEW (2010) also reports the species from coastal wadis. The global range of this species is the eastern Arabian Peninsula to Iran and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species is considered to be widespread within the Hajar Mountains (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Globally, the native range of this species spans across the Sahara, through to the Arabian Peninsula and on to India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

It is widespread throughout the northern UAE (Jongbloed et al. 2003). The native range of this species spans from Cape Verde to India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species is found in coastal areas and inland low dunes from Abu Dhabi northward to Ras al Khaimah (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Herbarium records (Sharjah Seedbank & Herbarium) indicate a more inland distribution in the northern Emirates, but these records might be the result of anthropogenic transport along road networks. The native range is through the Arabian Peninsula, to Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Feulner (2014) reported this species from the ridgetops, ravines, cliffs and slopes in the Olive Highlands in the Hajar Mountains, and from the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011). The species is found at higher altitudes from c. 650 m to c.1,880 asl (Feulner 2011, 2016; D. Aplin pers. comm. 2019). The native global distribution of this species is from the Arabian Peninsula to Iran and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species is found in the north-east of the UAE from western Dubai to Ras al-Khaimah (Jongbloed et al. 2003) and also occurs from west of Al Hamra to Al Mirfa (Al Meharibi et al. 2019) in Abu Dhabi. The species is found on coralline sands northeast of Taweela into Ras al-Khaimah (G. Brown pers. comm. 2019). It occurs only locally in Ras al-Khaimah and in Umm al-Quwain in dune hollows up to about 10 km inland, and occasionally by roadsides (e.g. around Zayed University campus, Dubai), and occurs on one side of Jebel Nazwa (G. Brown pers. comm. 2019). The global distribution of this species is from Somalia in north-east Africa to Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).