European Meadow Rush

Juncus inflexus

Found in seeps and calcareous wet meadows, usually over limestone or dolomite, disturbed wet or moist ground. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 18%

Soil moisture: Average to wet

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At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

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

Recorded in 6 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

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

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Groundwater seep. Shown: Gum Swamp Trail, Weymouth Woods, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Weymouth Woods Gum Swamp Trail seep, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC BY 2.0. Source record.

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

8CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Juncus

Acronicta insularisHenry's Marsh Moth, Cattail Caterpillar
Bactra furfuranaRush Bactra
Bactra verutanaJavelin Moth
Cisseps fulvicollisYellow-Collared Scape Moth
Coleophora cratipennellaStreaked Coleophora
Globia subflavaYellow Sedge Borer, Yellowish Nonagria, Subflava Sedge Borer
Xylena nuperaRed Swordgrass Moth, American Swordgrass Moth, False Armyworm
Coleophora fagicorticella

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

—Specialist beesPollen specialists

5BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

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

Alectoris chukarChukar
Anas acutaNorthern Pintail
Coturnicops noveboracensisYellow Rail
Lagopus leucuraWhite-tailed Ptarmigan
Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Family not recorded

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Conservation status

Virginia rank	SNA
Global rank	Not available
VA status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source

Native alternatives

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