Royal Flatsedge
Cyperus elegans
Found in ditches, wet open areas, coastal rock barrens. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Mississippi. How scores work Is it native here?
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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
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 2 Mississippi counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
9CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS
Genus host records with ranges including MS · Cyperus
- Argyrotaenia ivanaIvana Leafroller Moth
- Bactra verutanaJavelin Moth
- Diploschizia impigritellaYellow Nutsedge Moth
- Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
- Euphyes pilatkaSawgrass Skipper, Palatka Skipper, Coastal Sedge Skipper, Keys Sawgrass Skipper[for subspecies Euphyes pilatka klotsi]
- Euphyes vestrisDun Skipper, Dun Sedge Skipper, Sedge Witch)\
- Globia oblongaOblong Sedge Borer Moth, Large Noagria
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Cosmopterix attenuatella
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
22BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Cyperus
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Anas acutaNorthern Pintail
- Anser albifronsGreater White-fronted Goose
- Antigone canadensisSandhill Crane
- Aythya affinisLesser Scaup
- Aythya collarisRing-necked Duck
- Aythya valisineriaCanvasback
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
Show all 22
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
- Dendrocygna bicolorFulvous Whistling-Duck
- Falcipennis canadensisSpruce Grouse
- Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
- Mareca americanaAmerican Wigeon
- Mareca streperaGadwall
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
- Pooecetes gramineusVesper Sparrow
- Porzana carolinaSora
- Spizella pusillaField Sparrow
- Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
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
Conservation status
| Mississippi rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| MS status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
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Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Mississippi occurrence source
- 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