Carolina Fluffgrass
Tridens carolinianus
Found in moist swales in sandhills. 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 88%
- Height
- Up to about 4 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
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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
- August to November
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 10 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 127 animals.
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Hairy WoodpeckerPicoides villosus
- Henslow's SparrowAmmodramus henslowii
- Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
- Orchard OrioleIcterus spurius
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Pine SiskinCarduelis pinus
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Purple GallinulePorphyrio martinica
- Red-bellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Savannah SparrowPasserculus sandwichensis
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- Summer TanagerPiranga rubra
- Swallow-tailed KiteElanoides forficatus
- Swamp SparrowMelospiza georgiana
Who uses this plant?
9CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Tridens
- Cercyonis pegalaCommon Wood Nymph
- Dargida diffusaWheat Head Armywotm Moth
- Heliocheilus paradoxusParadoxical Grass Moth
- Hesperia leonardusLeonard's Skipper, Blazing Star Skipper, Pawnee Prairie Skipper, Pawnee Montane Skipper
- Lerema acciusClouded Skipper, Corn Leaf tier
- Limochores origenesCrossline Skipper
- Lon hobomokHobomok Skipper
- Lon zabulonZabulon Skipper
- Vernia vernaLittle Glassywing
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
- Flower color
- Green, purple or brown
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “August to November” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Green, purple or brown” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 4 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
- Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G3G4 |
| 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), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- 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

























