Coastal Plain Beaksedge
Rhynchospora stenophylla
Found in peaty seepage bogs, streamhead pocosins, savanna-pocosin ecotones, usually growing in Sphagnum , especially where frequently burned. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- Up to about 3 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual or perennial
- Bloom
- July to September
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 12 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.
Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 84 animals.
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Fish CrowCorvus ossifragus
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
- Fulvous Whistling-duckDendrocygna bicolor
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Great EgretArdea alba
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Greater YellowlegsTringa melanoleuca
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Hairy WoodpeckerPicoides villosus
- Henslow's SparrowAmmodramus henslowii
- Horned GrebePodiceps auritus
- King RailRallus elegans
- Le Conte's SparrowAmmodramus leconteii
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
- Least SandpiperCalidris minutilla
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
- Lesser YellowlegsTringa flavipes
- LimpkinAramus guarauna
- Little Blue HeronEgretta caerulea
- Little GullHydrocoloeus minutus
- Long-billed DowitcherLimnodromus scolopaceus
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
Who uses this plant?
4CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Rhynchospora
- Euphyes dukesiDukes' Skipper
- Lethe appalachiaAppalachian Brown, Appalachian Eyed Brown
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Diploschizia habecki
4BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Rhynchospora
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 · Rhynchospora
- Dendrocygna bicolorFulvous Whistling-Duck
- Lagopus lagopusWillow Ptarmigan
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Rallus elegansKing Rail
- Tyrannus tyrannusEastern Kingbird
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
- Brown
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Brown” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 3 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Annual or 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 · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S3 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4 |
| FL 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
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- 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

























