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Gulf Coast Spikerush

Eleocharis cellulosa

Found in fresh to brackish interdune swale ponds on barrier islands, marl prairies, depression ponds, salt marshes, other disturbed wet sandy habitats. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you

34
Good

Native to Mississippi. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 94%

Height
About 2.6 feet
Light
Full sun
Soil moisture
Wet to standing water
Will it fit your yard?

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

Bloom
June and November
Fruiting season
Summer to fall

Not yet recorded · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves

Recorded in 5 Mississippi counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 5

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

Prairies and grasslands

Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Mississippi. Shared habitat, not food. 89 animals.

All wildlife of Mississippi

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS

Genus host records with ranges including MS · Eleocharis

  • Bactra furfuranaRush Bactra
  • Cisseps fulvicollisYellow-Collared Scape Moth
  • Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
  • Parapoynx allionealisWatermilfoil Leafcutter, Bladderwort Casemaker
  • Donacaula dispersella
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
14BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Eleocharis

  • Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
  • Anas creccaGreen-winged Teal
  • Anas rubripesAmerican Black Duck
  • Anser caerulescensSnow Goose
  • Antigone canadensisSandhill Crane
  • Aythya collarisRing-necked Duck
  • Branta canadensisCanada Goose
  • Dendrocygna bicolorFulvous Whistling-Duck
  • Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
  • Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
Show all 14
  • Mareca americanaAmerican Wigeon
  • Mareca streperaGadwall
  • Porzana carolinaSora
  • Spatula cyanopteraCinnamon Teal
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Cyperaceae
Flower color
Green
Growth rate
Moderate
Growth habit
Grows in clumps
Fruit begins
Summer
Fruit ends
Fall
Growing sources and scope

Conservation status

Mississippi rankS2
Global rankG4G5
MS statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources