Grass or grass-like · Juncaceae
Poverty rush
Juncus tenuis
Poverty rush is recorded as native to 48 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,549 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Poverty rush at a glance
- Native in
- 1,549 counties, across 48 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium 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.
Poverty rush is recorded as native to 48 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,549 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,549 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 21 counties
- Arizona 7 counties
- Arkansas 43 counties
- California 32 counties
- Colorado 3 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 16 counties
- Georgia 32 counties
- Idaho 22 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 76 counties
- Iowa 13 counties
- Kansas 24 counties
- Kentucky 78 counties
- Louisiana 61 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Maryland 2 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 52 counties
- Minnesota 78 counties
- Mississippi 33 counties
- Missouri 83 counties
- Montana 9 counties
- Nebraska 12 counties
- Nevada 2 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 20 counties
- New Mexico 10 counties
- New York 55 counties
- North Carolina 74 counties
- Ohio 62 counties
- Oklahoma 15 counties
- Oregon 26 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 23 counties
- South Dakota 4 counties
- Tennessee 62 counties
- Texas 25 counties
- Utah 6 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 99 counties
- Washington 24 counties
- West Virginia 46 counties
- Wisconsin 68 counties
- Wyoming 2 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
- 1.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Bunch
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 10 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 6 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 85
- 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
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Juncaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- JUTE
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 tenuis (PLANTS symbol JUTE).
- 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