Rush-featherling
Pleea tenuifolia
Found in pine savannas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- Up to about 3 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet

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
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- September to October
- Fruiting season
- October to November
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.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 155 animals.
- SoraPorzana carolina
- Stilt SandpiperCalidris himantopus
- Swamp SparrowMelospiza georgiana
- Virginia RailRallus limicola
- Wood DuckAix sponsa
- Wood ThrushHylocichla mustelina
- Yellow RailCoturnicops noveboracensis
- Yellow-bellied SapsuckerSphyrapicus varius
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- American BitternBotaurus lentiginosus
- American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
- Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
- Common Ground-doveColumbina passerina
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asio
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
Who uses this plant?
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Tofieldiaceae
- Flower color
- White
- Fruit begins
- October
- Fruit ends
- November
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “September to October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “November” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “Up to about 3 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Rush featherling
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | S1S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4 |
| 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)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- 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

























