Trichophorum alpinum(L.) Pers.

alpine bulrush

WFO wfo-0000591713 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Trichophorum alpinum, photographed by Jason Grant
fig. a Jason Grant, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-11 / obs. 205229111
Trichophorum alpinum, photographed by Derek
fig. b Derek, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203700416
Trichophorum alpinum, photographed by Eugene Popov
fig. c Eugene Popov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201850127
Trichophorum alpinum, photographed by Henry "Nick" Robertson
fig. d Henry "Nick" Robertson, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 164140539
Trichophorum alpinum, photographed by Syd Cannings
fig. e Syd Cannings, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 149014036
Trichophorum alpinum, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. f Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 148197794
Trichophorum alpinum, photographed by Jens-Christian Svenning
fig. g Jens-Christian Svenning, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 146430041
Trichophorum alpinum, photographed by Jens-Christian Svenning
fig. h Jens-Christian Svenning, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 145908881

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
01038958
Filed as
Trichophorum alpinum (L.) Pers.
Det. by
R. F. C. Naczi 2011-01-01
Collected
S. A. Mori 2011-07-22
Origin
US
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 61 botanical countries

Regions where Trichophorum alpinum is native: Altay, Buryatiya, Chita, Irkutsk, Japan, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Manchuria, Primorye, Sakhalin, Tuva, West Siberia, Yakutiya, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Connecticut, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec, Saskatchewan, Vermont, Wisconsin, Yukon AltayBuryatiyaChitaIrkutskJapanKamchatkaKhabarovskKrasnoyarskManchuriaPrimoryeSakhalinTuvaWest SiberiaYakutiyaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyItalyNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandAlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaConnecticutLabradorMaineManitobaMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNewfoundlandNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutOntarioQuébecSaskatchewanVermontWisconsinYukon Korea
Native distribution of Trichophorum alpinum, 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
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
British Columbia BRC
Connecticut CNT
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Montana MNT
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Nunavut NUN
Ontario ONT
Québec QUE
Saskatchewan SAS
Vermont VER
Wisconsin WIS
Yukon YUK
Austria AUT EUROPE
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Italy ITA
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Buryatiya BRY
Chita CTA
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Khabarovsk KHA
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuril Is. KUR
Manchuria CHM
Primorye PRM
Sakhalin SAK
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Yakutiya YAK

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is 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.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,656 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -23.6 °C -13.2 °C -6.9 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 15.3 °C 21.5 °C 25.1 °C
Annual rainfall 595 mm 957 mm 1,789 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 69 mm 164 mm 345 mm

It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,656 research-grade observations of Trichophorum alpinum 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.

Also published as 16 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.

  • Baeothryon alpinum (L.) T.V.Egorova
  • Baeothryon hudsonianum (Michx.) Soják
  • Eleocharis alpina (L.) Bluff, Nees & Schauer
  • Eriophorella alpina (L.) Holub
  • Eriophorum alpinum L.
  • Eriophorum hudsonianum Michx.
  • Leucocoma alpina (L.) Rydb.
  • Limnochloa alpina (L.) Drejer
  • Linagrostis alpina (L.) Scop.
  • Plumaria alpina (L.) Bubani
  • Scirpus alpinus (L.) Dalla Torre & Sarnth.
  • Scirpus hudsonianus (Michx.) Fernald
  • Scirpus trichophorum Asch. & Graebn.
  • Trichophorum alpinum var. hudsonianum (Michx.) Pers.
  • Trichophorum hudsonianum (Michx.) Pers.
  • Trichophorum husonianum (Michx.) Nutt.

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.