Saltmarsh Spikerush

Eleocharis uniglumis

Found in brackish marshes. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

Good

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

Profile 88%

Height: Up to about 2 feet
Light: Full sun
Soil moisture: Moist to standing water

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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

Life cycle: Perennial
Bloom: July

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Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 1 Virginia county.

Natural habitats

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

Brackish marsh at a woodland edge. Shown: Fort Fisher, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC0 1.0. Source record.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · 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: Not applicable

Growing sources and scope

Bloom · “July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Flower color · “Not applicable” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Height · “Up to about 2 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Life cycle · “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; Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia

Also known as

Eleocharis halophila

Conservation status

Virginia rank	S1
Global rank	G5
VA status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

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