Nodding Bulrush - Scirpus pendulus

Also called Rufous Bulrush from the reddish color of its seedheads.

Features: This is the first bulrush we have offered. Great for rain gardens and other moist areas. Attractive seed heads are are an important source of food to ducks and other wetland birds. Its foliage is eaten by Canada Goose and Trumpeter Swans, while the culms and rootstocks are eaten occasionally by muskrats. Meadow Voles gnaw on the seedheads.

It is a great resource for pollinators too. Insects that feed on these perennial bulrushes include semi-aquatic leaf beetles, the seed bug, the plant bug Teratocoris discolor, aphids, larvae of the leaf-miner moth, stem-boring larvae of the moths Oblong Sedge Borer and Subflava Sedge Borer, larvae of the moth Scirpus Wainscot, and larvae of the Multicolored Sedge Miner Moth.

Light: Full sun to light shade

Soil: Moist with organic to retain moisture

Height: 2 to 3 1/2  feet

Blooms: May, June, July

See more information and photos at: Illinois Wildflowers