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Swaying Bulrush

Schoenoplectus subterminalis

Found in beaver ponds, bogs, blackwater creeks, peat mats, in highly acid water. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

45
Good

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

Profile 76%

Light
Full sun
Soil moisture
Wet to standing water
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 June
Fruiting season
June to August

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves

Height: NC species account not read yet.

Spread and leaves: no source found yet.

Recorded in 3 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 2

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond
Regional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Watauga Falls
Named place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

All habitats

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
Fruit begins
June
Fruit ends
August
Growing sources and scope
  • Bloom · “May to June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Flower color · “Brown” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
  • Fruit begins · “June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Fruit ends · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • 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 · “Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as

Scirpus subterminalis; Water Bulrush; bulrush

Conservation status

Virginia rankS1
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources