Cladium mariscus(L.) Pohl

Fen SedgeGreat Fen-SedgeSaw Grassswamp sawgrass

WFO wfo-0000356458 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Cladium mariscus, photographed by Matt Berger
fig. a Matt Berger, CC BY 4.0 / 2020-08-14 / obs. 90727187

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
568906
Filed as
Cladium mariscus (L.) Pohl
Det. by
A. C. Araújo 2004-01-01
Collected
M. Alves 1999-01-08
Origin
BR
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 126 botanical countries

Regions where Cladium mariscus is native: Algeria, Azores, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, China South-Central, China Southeast, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Hainan, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Korea, Lebanon-Syria, Nansei-shoto, North Caucasus, Ogasawara-shoto, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, Nepal, West Himalaya, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Cayman Is., Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Turks-Caicos Is., Uruguay, Venezuela, Windward Is. AlgeriaChadEgyptLibyaMoroccoTunisiaChina South-CentralChina SoutheastCyprusEast Aegean Is.HainanIranIraqJapanKazakhstanKirgizstanLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusOmanPalestineSaudi ArabiaTaiwanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanUzbekistanMyanmarNepalWest HimalayaNew South WalesQueenslandSouth AustraliaVictoriaWestern AustraliaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraineAlabamaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaFloridaGeorgiaLouisianaMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMississippiNevadaNew MexicoNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaTexasUtahVirginiaNew CaledoniaArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicGuatemalaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoUruguayVenezuela AzoresKoreaNansei-shotoBalearesSardegnaVanuatuBahamasBermudaCayman Is.Leeward Is.Turks-Caicos Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Cladium mariscus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baleares BAL
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Bahamas BAH
Belize BLZ
Bermuda BER
Bolivia BOL
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Cayman Is. CAY
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Guatemala GUA
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Turks-Caicos Is. TCI
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Cyprus CYP
East Aegean Is. EAI
Hainan CHH
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Japan JAP
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Nansei-shoto NNS
North Caucasus NCS
Ogasawara-shoto OGA
Oman OMA
Palestine PAL
Saudi Arabia SAU
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
California CAL
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Louisiana LOU
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Mississippi MSI
Nevada NEV
New Mexico NWM
North Carolina NCA
South Carolina SCA
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Virginia VRG
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Azores AZO
Chad CHA
Egypt EGY
Libya LBY
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD
South Australia SOA
Victoria VIC
Western Australia WAU
Myanmar MYA ASIA-TROPICAL
Nepal NEP
West Himalaya WHM
New Caledonia NWC PACIFIC
Vanuatu VAN

Not drawn on the map: Ogasawara-shoto, Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 77 in flower of 237 examined

Proportion of examined Cladium mariscus in flower, by month
Month In flower Examined Share 95% interval
Jan 1 16 6% 1% to 28%
Feb 0 4 too few examined
Mar 0 8 0% 0% to 32%
Apr 2 28 7% 2% to 23%
May 24 42 57% 42% to 71%
Jun 28 43 65% 50% to 78%
Jul 10 26 38% 22% to 57%
Aug 2 23 9% 2% to 27%
Sep 6 13 46% 23% to 71%
Oct 2 8 25% 7% to 59%
Nov 2 19 11% 3% to 31%
Dec 0 7 0% 0% to 35%

Peak flowering in Jun. Each bar is the share of Cladium mariscus observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 77 of 237 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. One month has fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for it. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,861 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -7.1 °C 2.8 °C 16.7 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 19.5 °C 26.5 °C 32.1 °C
Annual rainfall 544 mm 1,077 mm 1,748 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 75 mm 141 mm 361 mm

It is found where winters bring hard frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,861 research-grade observations of Cladium mariscus that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one. Climate from CHELSA V2.1 (Karger et al. 2017); occurrences from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 46 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Cladium bahiense Nees
  • Cladium californicum (S.Watson) O'Neill
  • Cladium chinense Nees
  • Cladium durandoi Chabert
  • Cladium effusum Torr.
  • Cladium floribundum C.Presl
  • Cladium germanicum Schrad.
  • Cladium giganteum Willk.
  • Cladium grossheimii Pobed.
  • Cladium jamaicense Crantz
  • Cladium jamaicense subsp. chinense (Nees) T.Koyama
  • Cladium japonicum Steud.
  • Cladium leptostachyum Nees
  • Cladium lucense Merino
  • Cladium mariscus subsp. chinense (Nees) Govaerts
  • Cladium mariscus subsp. martii (Roem. & Schult.) T.V.Egorova
  • Cladium mariscus var. californicum S.Watson
  • Cladium mariscus var. ferruginescens Kük.
  • Cladium mariscus var. martii (Roem. & Schult.) Kük.
  • Cladium martii (Roem. & Schult.) K.Richt.
  • Cladium occidentale Schrad.
  • Cladium palustre Poir.
  • Cladium procerum S.T.Blake
  • Hypolytrum kuntzeanum Boeckeler

and 22 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.