Scirpus atrovirensWilld.

Black bulrushDark-green bulrushWool bulrushgreen bulrush

WFO wfo-0000534657 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Scirpus atrovirens, photographed by Violet T.
fig. a Violet T., CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-11 / obs. 205253728
Scirpus atrovirens, photographed by Mike B
fig. b Mike B, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 169426428
Scirpus atrovirens, photographed by Yann Kemper
fig. c Yann Kemper, CC0 1.0 / obs. 151745641
Scirpus atrovirens, photographed by Eric Schmidt
fig. d Eric Schmidt, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 152042305
Scirpus atrovirens, photographed by Ryan Sorrells
fig. e Ryan Sorrells, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 142038425
Scirpus atrovirens, photographed by Susan Berry
fig. f Susan Berry, CC0 1.0 / obs. 140033241
Scirpus atrovirens, photographed by Braden J. Judson
fig. g Braden J. Judson, CC0 1.0 / obs. 88739874
Scirpus atrovirens, photographed by Alan Weakley
fig. h Alan Weakley, CC0 1.0 / obs. 87594118

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.

Native range 42 botanical countries

Regions where Scirpus atrovirens is native: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlabamaArizonaConnecticutGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaQuébecSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsin DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Scirpus atrovirens, 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
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS

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.

Also published as 11 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.

  • Holoschoenus atrovirens (Willd.) Link
  • Scirpus atrovirens f. angustispicatus Fernald
  • Scirpus atrovirens f. atrovirens
  • Scirpus atrovirens f. cephalanthus Fernald
  • Scirpus atrovirens f. proliferus F.J.Herm.
  • Scirpus atrovirens f. sychnocephalus (S.N.Cowles) S.F.Blake
  • Scirpus atrovirens f. viviparus Vict.
  • Scirpus atrovirens var. atrovirens
  • Scirpus atrovirens var. pycnocephalus Fernald
  • Scirpus sylvaticus var. atrovirens (Willd.) A.Gray
  • Scirpus sylvaticus var. sychnocephalus S.N.Cowles

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.