Grass or grass-like · Cyperaceae
Common spikerush
Eleocharis palustris · includes its varieties and subspecies
Common spikerush is recorded as native to 44 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 979 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Common spikerush at a glance
- Native in
- 979 counties, across 44 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 1.3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Common spikerush is recorded as native to 44 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 979 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 979 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 2 counties
- Alaska 19 counties
- Arizona 7 counties
- Arkansas 7 counties
- California 12 counties
- Colorado 40 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 3 counties
- Illinois 45 counties
- Indiana 27 counties
- Iowa 1 county
- Kansas 27 counties
- Kentucky 13 counties
- Louisiana 12 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Maryland 3 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 52 counties
- Minnesota 63 counties
- Missouri 65 counties
- Montana 18 counties
- Nebraska 15 counties
- Nevada 12 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New Mexico 20 counties
- New York 47 counties
- North Carolina 1 county
- North Dakota 13 counties
- Ohio 19 counties
- Oklahoma 2 counties
- Oregon 32 counties
- Pennsylvania 47 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Dakota 29 counties
- Tennessee 64 counties
- Texas 24 counties
- Utah 29 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 20 counties
- Washington 25 counties
- West Virginia 12 counties
- Wisconsin 56 counties
- Wyoming 21 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Graminoid
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.3 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 16 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and fine
- pH range
- 4 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 14 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Brown
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ELPA3
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Eleocharis palustris (PLANTS symbol ELPA3), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources