Dudley's Rush
Juncus dudleyi
Found in calcareous seepages and fens, river-scours. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- 1.5–2.5 feet
- Spread
- 1–1.5 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
Space about 1 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 100 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Bloom
- June to September
Not yet recorded · Life cycle · Leaves
Recorded in 8 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.
Who uses this plant?
5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Juncus
- Acronicta insularisHenry's Marsh Moth, Cattail Caterpillar
- Bactra furfuranaRush Bactra
- Bactra verutanaJavelin Moth
- Cisseps fulvicollisYellow-Collared Scape Moth
- Coleophora cratipennellaStreaked Coleophora
2BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Juncus
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
5BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Juncus
- Alectoris chukarChukar
- Anas acutaNorthern Pintail
- Coturnicops noveboracensisYellow Rail
- Lagopus leucuraWhite-tailed Ptarmigan
- Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
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
- Juncaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3–9
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 3–9” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Height · “1.5–2.5 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs)
- Light · “Full sun” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Soil · “moderately wet to moderately dry” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Spread · “1–1.5 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Also known as
Dudleys Rush
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| 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.
Growing cautions
- Spreads aggressively. Spreads by rhizomes and can sometimes spread aggressively. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- 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

