General Landscape Uses:
Water gardens and along pond and lake edges.
Availability:
Grown by one or two native plant nurseries in South Florida.
Description: Large herbaceous sedge with cylindrical stems.
Dimensions: About 5-8 feet in height. Spreading from underground stems (rhizomes) and forming large patches.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Widespread in North America south to Miami-Dade and Collier counties; the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Old World (Europe). Scattered in the southeastern US, including Florida.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of suggested ZIP codes from South Florida north to southern Brevard, Osceola, Polk, and Pasco counties.
Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.
Habitats: Marshes.
Soils: Wet, permanantly inundated organic soils.
Nutritional Requirements: High; requires rich organic soils for optimal growth.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish 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 to light shade.
Flower Color: Brownish inflorescence.
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous.
Flowering Season: All year.
Fruit: Inconspicuous achene.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed and division.
Comments: This is the most common bulrush in North America. Horticultural synonyms: S. validus.
