Tennessee Yellow Eyed Grass
Xyris tennesseensis
Found in seepy, fenlike areas over limestone. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- Up to about 2 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Wet to standing water
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
Federally endangered. Excluded from routine garden suggestions. Consult conservation guidance before obtaining or planting this species. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 6 Alabama counties.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 54 animals.
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- Bank SwallowRiparia riparia
- Black-crowned Night-heronNycticorax nycticorax
- Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
- Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- Carolina ChickadeePoecile carolinensis
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
- Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
- Common GrackleQuiscalus quiscula
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalis
- Double-crested CormorantPhalacrocorax auritus
- Downy WoodpeckerPicoides pubescens
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Eastern PhoebeSayornis phoebe
- Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmus
- Gray CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Xyris
- Megisto cymelaLittle Wood Satyr
13BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Xyris
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
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Xyris
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
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
- Xyridaceae
- Soil pH
- Alkaline
- Flower color
- Yellow
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 2 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil pH · “Alkaline” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Endangered (US Fish and Wildlife Service) |
Conservation source Federal status source: US Fish and Wildlife Service
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
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- 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