Plants Common in Wetlands

Sedges

Many native species of sedges are found; Beaked Sedge (Carex utriculata), Water Sedge (Carex aquatilis), and Nebraska Sedge (Carex nebraskensis) are the most common along stream banks. In drier sites, Field Sedge (Carex praegracilis) can become almost a mono-specific stand.

Juncus articus (balticus)

Baltic rush has been renamed arctic rush, but it is still the old standby. This grazing tolerant rush is often the only sign that an area may have been a wetland and can persist for decades in a disturbed site, as its roots can reach a water table 30 feet down. It can easily be found in the fall where the intense golden color of its foliage stands out among the straw-colored grasses around it.

Three-square

This plant is a vigorous grower on saturated stream banks in the Southwest. Its sod can be so dense as to be impenetrable, and resists erosion easily. Over time, three-square can narrow a channel and cause a change in channel type from a Rosgen B to E channel.

Spikerush (Eleocharis species)

These species are early-successional invaders on sediment in wetlands. While usually replaced by a larger, more vigorous wetland plants, they can help by capturing some of the fines that are deposited in eddies along a stream. Knowing that deposition is occurring and being colonized by spikerush can be an indicator of a successful project evolving towards a stable geomorphology.

Bulrush

Soft-stemmed bulrush can grow in deep water and anchor fine sediments in pools and wetland ponds. This species can replace cattails in the successional sequence and become the climax species in an emergent wetland. Bulrush root plugs have been used to anchor sediments in many sites, and anchor the sediments to resist erosion.

Coyote willows

Many useful riparian plants are clonal species that spread quickly through the available habitat by suckering and root sprouting. Coyote or sandbar willow can be planted throughout most of the year as cuttings, the branches produce rooting hormone and will take root and grow. Over time, coyote willows will colonize banks and floodplains by suckering and anchor the sediment in place. They also provide the function of shading the stream from the hot mid-day sun.