Grass or grass-like · Juncaceae
Lesser creeping rush
Juncus repens
Lesser creeping rush is recorded as native to 12 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 244 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Lesser creeping rush at a glance
- Native in
- 244 counties, across 12 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 8b PLANTS minimum temperature 12°F
- Mature height
- 6.8 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 8b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 12°F; zone 8b winters bottom out at 15°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Lesser creeping rush is recorded as native to 12 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 244 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 244 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 20 counties
- Arkansas 7 counties
- Delaware 1 county
- Florida 45 counties
- Georgia 33 counties
- Louisiana 30 counties
- Mississippi 5 counties
- North Carolina 34 counties
- South Carolina 21 counties
- Tennessee 13 counties
- Texas 14 counties
- Virginia 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
- Annual, Perennial
- Mature height
- 6.8 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Decumbent
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 35 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 3 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 12°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 8b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 180
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Juncaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- JURE2
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
- Juncus repens (PLANTS symbol JURE2).
- 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