Flowering Rush
Appearance
Perennial aquatic herbaceous plant. It grows 1-4' high on an erect stem along shores in shallow water. In deeper water it grows submerged without producing flowers. Flowering rush is very difficult to identify when not in flower. It closely resembles many native shoreland plants, such as the common bulrush.
Leaves
Leaves are sword-shaped, triangular in cross section.
Flowers
Pink flowers are arranged in umbels (umbrella-shaped).
Seeds
Populations in the eastern U.S. produce seeds. Only one Minnesota population (Forest Lake) produces viable seeds.
Roots
Reproduces by vegetative spread from its rootstock in form of bulb-lets. Both seeds and bulb-lets are dispersed by water current.
DNR aquatic plant regulations for permits to remove flowering rush.
Ecological Threat
Native Substitutes
- Sweet flag (Acorus americanus)
- Lake sedge (Carex lacustris)
- Northern blue flag (Iris versicolor)
- Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
- Hardstem bulrush (Schoenoplectus acutus)
- Giant bur-reed (Sparganium eurycarpum)