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Wolf's Spikerush

Eleocharis wolfii

Found in oak flatwoods, shallow ephemeral pools on granitic flatrocks, prairies, barrens, swales, savannas. Great Lakes dunes further northward. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

34
Good

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

Profile 88%

Height
Up to about 16 inches
Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Moist to wet
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
Bloom
May to July

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 2 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

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

1 of 4

Prairies and grasslands

Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020
Barrens grassland after a prescribed fire. Shown: Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020, NPS Photo / Rick Olson, September 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Pine savannas

Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype
Sandy pine savanna. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

Granite and other acidic rock outcrops

Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 88 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

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
Green or brown
Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Wolfs Spike Rush

Conservation status

Virginia rankS1
Global rankG3G5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources