Grass or grass-like · Cyperaceae
Hardstem bulrush
Schoenoplectus acutus · includes its varieties and subspecies
Hardstem bulrush is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 713 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Hardstem bulrush at a glance
- Native in
- 713 counties, across 39 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 9.8 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.
Hardstem bulrush is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 713 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 713 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alaska 1 county
- Arizona 8 counties
- Arkansas 1 county
- California 48 counties
- Colorado 19 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Idaho 21 counties
- Illinois 32 counties
- Indiana 19 counties
- Iowa 7 counties
- Kansas 33 counties
- Kentucky 1 county
- Maine 14 counties
- Massachusetts 7 counties
- Michigan 57 counties
- Minnesota 52 counties
- Missouri 13 counties
- Montana 15 counties
- Nebraska 37 counties
- Nevada 11 counties
- New Hampshire 4 counties
- New Jersey 4 counties
- New Mexico 10 counties
- New York 28 counties
- North Carolina 2 counties
- North Dakota 48 counties
- Ohio 8 counties
- Oklahoma 12 counties
- Oregon 19 counties
- Pennsylvania 7 counties
- South Dakota 30 counties
- Texas 24 counties
- Utah 25 counties
- Vermont 9 counties
- Virginia 4 counties
- Washington 27 counties
- West Virginia 2 counties
- Wisconsin 42 counties
- Wyoming 12 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record of a variety (SCACA). “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Graminoid
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 9.8 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 12 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.2 to 8.5
- 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
- 110
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
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
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SCAC3
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
- Schoenoplectus acutus (PLANTS symbol SCAC3), 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