North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Eriophorum virginicum

Eriophorum virginicum L.

tawny cottongrass

Image ID: 14364
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: ERVI8
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Eriophorum virginicum
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2020-01-01

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: ERIOP
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Eriophorum
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Cottongrass
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 20 species, herbs, primarily north temperate, boreal, and arctic.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Ball & Wujek in FNA (2002b); Goetghebeur in Kubitzki (1998b).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: CYPERA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Cyperaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Sedge Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 100 genera and 5000 species, mostly herbs, cosmopolitan.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Ball, Reznicek, & Murray in FNA (2002b); Muasya et al. (2009); Tucker (1987); Goetghebeur in Kubitzki (1998b).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO:
STEMS:
LEAVES:
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS:
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT:

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Grass/Grasslike

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: Jun-Sep

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
					x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR:

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
x					x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE:
NATIVE RANGE:

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
207	HORT		Walker	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
208	2011-0020	2011-01-27	207	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
420	208	48	NCBG staff	2011-04-27	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: ERVI8
USDA Common Name: Tawny Cottongrass
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)
Distribution: USA (CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV), CAN (BC, LB, NB, NF, NS, ON, PE, QC), FRA (SPM)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Graminoid

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	OBL				OBL	OBL		OBL	OBL

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

2018 Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species of North Carolina

NHP ID	S RANK	ROUNDED S RANK	G RANK	ROUNDED G RANK	STATE STATUS	FEDERAL STATUS
20256	S3	S3	G5	G5	W1

This information is derived from the 2018 North Carolina Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species.

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Eriophorum virginicum
COMMON NAME: Tawny Cottongrass
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, FNA, G, GW, K, Pa, RAB, S, Tn, Va, W, WV]
PHENOLOGY: Jun-Sep.
HABITAT: Peaty sites, limited in habitat throughout the region, occurring in the Mountains in bogs and fens, in the Piedmont (formerly) in bogs, in the fall-line sandhills in frequently burned pocosins and sandhill seeps, in the middle and outer Coastal Plain in pocosins, acidic seeps, and peat-burn pools.
COMMENTS: NL (Labrador) and NL (Newfoundland) west to ON and MN, south to se. NC, sw. NC, e. KY; disjunct in se. GA at Okefenokee Swamp. Very variable in size, from 5-15 dm tall, with heads ranging from 1-6 cm in diameter, the larger plants primarily in the Coastal Plain and the smaller in the Mountains.
RANGE MAP: Eriophorum virginicum.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Cyperaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Sedge Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 100 genera and 5000 species, mostly herbs, cosmopolitan.
REFERENCE: Ball, Reznicek, & Murray in FNA (2002b); Muasya et al. (2009); Tucker (1987); Goetghebeur in Kubitzki (1998b).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Eriophorum L. (Cottongrass)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 20 species, herbs, primarily north temperate, boreal, and arctic.
REFERENCE: Ball & Wujek in FNA (2002b); Goetghebeur in Kubitzki (1998b).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Eriophorum virginicum in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Eriophorum virginicum in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Eriophorum virginicum in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Eriophorum virginicum in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Eriophorum virginicum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Eriophorum virginicum

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 14364 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 14364 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 0 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)