Woolgrass
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Scirpus cyperinus (L.) Kunth
Common name(s): woolgrass, wool grass, bulrush, cottongrass bulrush, marsh bulrush, teddybear paws, common woolsedge
Link(s): USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- in wet depression in blueberry field
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- emerging inflorescence, early June
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- early inflorescence, mid-June
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- November
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- old inflorescence detail showing flower/fruit arrangement
Description:
– perennial
-leaf blade 3–10 mm in width
– appears woolly when fully mature/later in the season
– clusters of spikelets share a common pedicel (“stem”)
– may be confused with S. pedicellatus (stalked bulrush) and/or S. atrocinctus (black bulrush); see left sidebar on Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-marshes
-meadows and fields
-shores of rivers
Natural History:
-named for its perianth bristles of the inflorescence that good it a woolly appearance
-the Ojibwa used common woodsedge for weaving bags and mats
-the Potawatomi used the fruiting heads to stuff pillows
Sources:
Go botany. “Scirpus Cyperinus (L.) Kunth.” Scirpus Cyperinus (Common Woolsedge, Woolgrass): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/scirpus/cyperinus/.
Acknowledgement(s):
Eric T. Doucette, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor of Biology, MA College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA (updated Feb 2018)