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River Bulrush

Bolboschoenus fluviatilis

Found in freshwater tidal marshes, river marshes, marl marshes. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

47
Good

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

Profile 71%

Height
Up to about 6 feet
Light
Sun
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

Life cycle
Perennial

Not yet recorded · Spread · Soil · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 7 Virginia counties.

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 151 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

13CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Scirpus

  • Apamea sordensBordered Apamea, Rustic Shoulder-Knot
  • Bactra furfuranaRush Bactra
  • Bactra verutanaJavelin Moth
  • Euphyes dionDion Skipper, Sedge Skipper
  • Globia oblongaOblong Sedge Borer Moth, Large Noagria
  • Globia subflavaYellow Sedge Borer, Yellowish Nonagria, Subflava Sedge Borer
  • Helotropha reniformisAmerican Crescent Borer, Reniform Celaena, Reniform Helotropha
  • Ledaea perditalisLost Owlet, 3-Stripe Cephalanthus caterpillar, Buttonbush Owlet
  • Meropleon diversicolorMulticolored Sedgeminer
  • Neonympha mitchelliiMitchell's Satyr
Show all 13
  • Bactra maiorina
  • Cosmopterix scirpicola
  • Donacaula dispersella
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
27BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

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

  • Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
  • Anas platyrhynchosMallard
  • Anthus rubescensAmerican Pipit
  • Aythya affinisLesser Scaup
  • Aythya americanaRedhead
  • Aythya collarisRing-necked Duck
  • Aythya marilaGreater Scaup
  • Aythya valisineriaCanvasback
  • Bucephala clangulaCommon Goldeneye
  • Bucephala islandicaBarrow's Goldeneye
Show all 27
  • Calcarius lapponicusLapland Longspur
  • Calcarius pictusSmith's Longspur
  • Cygnus buccinatorTrumpeter Swan
  • Cygnus columbianusTundra Swan
  • Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
  • Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
  • Loxia curvirostraRed Crossbill
  • Mareca americanaAmerican Wigeon
  • Mareca streperaGadwall
  • Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
  • Oxyura jamaicensisRuddy Duck
  • Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
  • Porzana carolinaSora
  • Rallus limicolaVirginia Rail
  • Spatula cyanopteraCinnamon Teal
  • Spizelloides arboreaAmerican Tree Sparrow
  • Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling
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
Brown
Growing sources and scope
Also known as

River Bul Rush

Conservation status

Virginia rankS2
Global rankNot available
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source

In your garden

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Sources