New England Bulrush
Bolboschoenus novae-angliae
Found in fresh to brackish (oligohaline) tidal marshes, ditches. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- Up to about 5 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Wet to standing water
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- June to July
- Fruiting season
- July to September
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 2 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
11CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Scirpus
- Bactra furfuranaRush Bactra
- Bactra verutanaJavelin Moth
- Euphyes dionDion Skipper, Sedge Skipper
- Globia oblongaOblong Sedge Borer Moth, Large Noagria
- Ledaea perditalisLost Owlet, 3-Stripe Cephalanthus caterpillar, Buttonbush Owlet
- Meropleon diversicolorMulticolored Sedgeminer
- Neonympha areolataGeorgia Satyr, Helicta Satyr
- Bactra maiorina
- Cosmopterix attenuatella
- Cosmopterix ebriola
Show all 11
- Cosmopterix scirpicola
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
27BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Scirpus
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Anas platyrhynchosMallard
- Anthus rubescensAmerican Pipit
- Aythya affinisLesser Scaup
- Aythya americanaRedhead
- Aythya collarisRing-necked Duck
- Aythya marilaGreater Scaup
- Aythya valisineriaCanvasback
- Bucephala clangulaCommon Goldeneye
- Bucephala islandicaBarrow's Goldeneye
Show all 27
- Calcarius lapponicusLapland Longspur
- Calcarius pictusSmith's Longspur
- Cygnus buccinatorTrumpeter Swan
- Cygnus columbianusTundra Swan
- Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
- Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
- Loxia curvirostraRed Crossbill
- Mareca americanaAmerican Wigeon
- Mareca streperaGadwall
- Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
- Oxyura jamaicensisRuddy Duck
- Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
- Porzana carolinaSora
- Rallus limicolaVirginia Rail
- Spatula cyanopteraCinnamon Teal
- Spizelloides arboreaAmerican Tree Sparrow
- Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- Flower color
- Green or brown
- Fruit begins
- July
- Fruit ends
- September
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late June to July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Green or brown” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “Up to about 5 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Schoenoplectus novae angliae; Schoenoplectus novae-angliae; bulrush
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G3 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications