Woolgrass
Scirpus cyperinus · Aquatic plants
Flowers or seeds · Photo: Quinten Wiegersma / CC BY
Also called Woolgrass bulrush
How to identify Woolgrass
- Dense clumps of stems 3 to 6 feet
- Drooping clusters of woolly, rusty brown spikelets
- Long leaves on the stems
- Many leafy bracts below the flowers
Similar plants
Panicled bulrush has smaller, smooth spikelets and reddish sheaths; cattails have a single brown spike.
Growth profile
| Growing season | Grows from spring, flowers July to September, the woolly heads persist into winter. |
|---|---|
| Starts growing | About 50 F soil; full sun |
| Light | Full sun to part shade |
| Depth | Moist shoreline to about 6 inches of water |
| How it spreads | Seeds and short rhizomes |
| Habitat | Marshy pond edges, ditches and wet meadows with standing water. |
Why it matters in a lake
Forms large clumps; seeds are eaten by birds and stands give cover for wildlife.
Where it is found
- Idaho: Rare
- Oregon: Occasional
- Wyoming: Not recorded
Classification
| Kingdom | Plantae |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Tracheophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Poales |
| Family | Cyperaceae |
| Scientific name | Scirpus cyperinus |
Broadleaf cattail
Hardstem bulrush
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Purple loosestrife
Soft rush
Yellow flag iris
Broadleaf arrowhead
Western water hemlock
Beaked sedge
Baltic rushNeed a hand?
Is it taking over your lake?
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