An umbel of rose-pink flowers rises on a tall, leafless stem above the leaves of a rush, from shallow water beside a canal
Flowering rush, Butomus umbellatus.
Nature · Wildflowers & flowers
Flowering rush
Native (scarce in the north) · flowers Jul–Aug · canals, ditches and slow rivers
Butomus umbellatus — Butomaceae
A tall, elegant plant of shallow canals, ditches and slow rivers, with an umbel of rose-pink flowers on a leafless stem above rush-like leaves. Despite its name it is not a rush: it belongs to a family with only itself in it. It has escaped and become an invasive pest in North America.
How to spot them
- ▸Umbel of pink flowers with three pale pink petals and three darker pink sepals, held above the water on a tall stem up to about 1 m
- ▸Long, narrow, grass-like leaves that are triangular in section and twisted
- ▸Grows in shallow water at the edges of canals, ditches and slow rivers, forming large stands through creeping rhizomes
- ▸Look-alike: bur-reeds have similar leaves but ball-shaped spiky flower heads
- ▸Look-alike: water-plantain has smaller flowers in a branched panicle, not an umbel
How to know it
Despite its name it is not related to any rush — it is the only British member of its own family
Flowering rush, family Butomaceae.
Escaped in North America, where it has become an invasive pest of wetlands
Flowering rush, per the Wildlife Trusts.
Its species name refers to the umbrella-shaped arrangement of its flower stalks
umbellatus — flowering rush.
Long, narrow leaves twisted like a screw and triangular in section grow from creeping rhizomes in canal margins
Flowering rush.
Quick-fire facts
- •Family Butomaceae — the Wildlife Trusts note it has 'a family all to itself'
- •Wildlife Trusts: flowers July to August, up to 1 m tall, in shallow freshwater
- •Not a rush (Juncaceae); the name refers to its rush-like leaves
- •Has been unintentionally introduced to North America and is an invasive wetland plant there
- •Forms large stands from creeping underground rhizomes
- •The flowers, with 6 tepals in two shades of pink, support pollinators
- •Native in England, though often planted, and scarcer in Scotland and Wales
Drill it — 6 cards
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Sources
- The Wildlife Trusts — Flowering rush