Louisiana Quillwort
Isoetes louisianensis
Found in small streams, braided swamps, seepage areas. 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?
Profile 41%
Will it fit your yard?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
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 7 Mississippi counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Mississippi. Shared habitat, not food. 67 animals.
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
- Mississippi KiteIctinia mississippiensis
- Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Painted BuntingPasserina ciris
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Purple GallinulePorphyrio martinica
- Red-bellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinus
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Ruby-crowned KingletRegulus calendula
- Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
- Sandhill CraneGrus canadensis
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Swamp SparrowMelospiza georgiana
- White IbisEudocimus albus
- Wood DuckAix sponsa
- Yellow-bellied SapsuckerSphyrapicus varius
- Yellow-billed CuckooCoccyzus americanus
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
Widespread birds also seen here (43)
Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.
- American Crow
- American Goldfinch
- American Kestrel
- American Robin
- Bald Eagle
- Belted Kingfisher
- Black-crowned Night-heron
- Blue Grosbeak
- Carolina Chickadee
- Carolina Wren
- Cedar Waxwing
- Chimney Swift
- Common Grackle
- Common Nighthawk
- Common Yellowthroat
- Cooper's Hawk
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Eastern Kingbird
- Eastern Screech-owl
- Eastern Towhee
- Eurasian Collared-dove
- European Starling
- Fish Crow
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Great Horned Owl
- Hooded Merganser
- Mourning Dove
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Mockingbird
- Osprey
- Purple Finch
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Swallow-tailed Kite
- Tufted Titmouse
- Turkey Vulture
- White-throated Sparrow
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Yellow-crowned Night-heron
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
Who uses this plant?
1BirdsRecorded eating Isoetes in Mississippi
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes Mississippi, most records first.
- Wild TurkeyOther parts. 2 diet records
Direct food only. 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
Birds that eat Isoetes 1
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.
- Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
Plant details
- Family
- Isoetaceae
Conservation status
| Mississippi rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| MS 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
- NatureServe Explorer
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- 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


























