Common Three Square Bulrush
Schoenoplectus pungens
Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- Up to about 6 feet
- Light
- 4 or more hours of direct sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 3 West Virginia counties.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in West Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 99 animals.
- White-eyed VireoVireo griseus
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
Widespread birds also seen here (37)
Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.
- Alder Flycatcher
- American Crow
- American Goldfinch
- American Kestrel
- American Robin
- Belted Kingfisher
- Blue Grosbeak
- Blue Jay
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Cedar Waxwing
- Chimney Swift
- Chipping Sparrow
- Common Nighthawk
- Common Raven
- Cooper's Hawk
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Eastern Kingbird
- Eastern Towhee
- European Starling
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Great Horned Owl
- Least Flycatcher
- Mourning Dove
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Mockingbird
- Osprey
- Purple Finch
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Tufted Titmouse
- Turkey Vulture
- Wild Turkey
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
Who uses this plant?
7CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Scirpus
- Apamea sordensBordered Apamea, Rustic Shoulder-Knot
- Bactra furfuranaRush Bactra
- Bactra verutanaJavelin Moth
- Globia oblongaOblong Sedge Borer Moth, Large Noagria
- Globia subflavaYellow Sedge Borer, Yellowish Nonagria, Subflava Sedge Borer
- Ledaea perditalisLost Owlet, 3-Stripe Cephalanthus caterpillar, Buttonbush Owlet
- Meropleon diversicolorMulticolored Sedgeminer
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
6BirdsRecorded eating Schoenoplectus in West Virginia
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes West Virginia, most records first.
- SoraSeeds. 12 diet records
- CanvasbackSeeds and roots. 3 diet records
- MallardSeeds. 2 diet records
- Northern PintailSeeds. 2 diet records
- Virginia RailSeeds. 2 diet records
- Lesser ScaupSeeds. 1 diet record
Direct food only. 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
Birds that eat Schoenoplectus 6
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.
- SoraPorzana carolina
- CanvasbackAythya valisineria
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Northern PintailAnas acuta
- Virginia RailRallus limicola
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
Plant details
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- Flower color
- Red or brown
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Red or brown” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 6 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Also known as
Chairmakers Rush
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications