General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.
Availability:
Grown by one or two native plant nurseries in South Florida.
Description: Medium herbaceous rush with round, narrow leaves with needle-like tips.
Dimensions: About 2-3 feet in height. Colonial, forming large patches.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Eastern and southeastern United States west to Texas and south to the Monroe County Keys; Bahamas. Sporadic in South Florida and poorly documented outside of Miami-Dade and Collier counties. Very rare or extirpated in the Monroe County Keys, where collected once on Big Pine Key in 1951. Very rare or extirpated in Broward County, where observed last at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park in 1983.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.
Habitats: Coastal marshes.
Soils: Wet, poorly-drained to seasonally inundated brackish or freshwater soils.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance: Moderate; tolerates brackish water or occasional inundation by salt water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance: Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Dark brown inflorescence.
Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy inflorescence.
Flowering Season: Summer-fall.
Fruit: Inconspicuous capsule.
Wildlife and Ecology: Provides food for birds.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed or divisions.
References: Miami-Dade County Landscape Manual
(2005).
