Scirpus cyperinus (L.) Kunth

Wool Grass; Marsh Bulrush

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Wool Grass is a native herbaceous perennial in the Sedge family (Cyperaceae). It throughout Alabama. Wool Grass can be found around the margins of ponds and lakes, in beaver ponds, in marshes, and in wet roadside ditches. It is a clump-forming perennial from a short, branching rhizome. The rhizome is tough and fibrous. Stems are erect, 3-6 feet in height and unbranched. The stems are hollow and green in color. The leaves are basal and from the lower portion of the stem. The leaves are alternate, linear in outline, and flat or V-shaped. Flowers are produced in a terminal panicle. Spikelets occur in groups of 2-15 at the ends of the drooping branches. The central spikelet is sessile. The spikelets are ovate to oblong-elliptic in outline and reddish-brown in color. The 6 slender perianth bristles project beyond the scales of the spikelet, giving it a “woolly” appearance. The fruit is a whitish or pale brown achene. Wool Grass is sometimes available from native plant nurseries. In prefers a site with moist soil and full to partial sun. It can be used along the shorelines of ponds or lakes, in wet meadows, and in rain gardens. Wool Grass is a larval host plant for the Dion Skipper (Euphyes dion).—A. Diamond.

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Native OBL (NWPL)

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