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Cladium jamaicense Crantz
Saw-grass, Jamaica swamp sawgrass

Cladium jamaicense
Copyright by: Roger L. Hammer

Family: Cyperaceae

Group: Monocot

Substrate: Terrestrial

Habit: Herb

Perennation: Perennial

Native Range: Southern United States, the West Indies, Mexico, Central America and South America.

Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida

IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status: Secure

SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence: Present

SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status: Native

SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status: Cultivated

Comments: Visit our Natives For Your Neighborhood website for more information and images.

Synonyms: Mariscus jamaicense.

Other data on Cladium jamaicense available from :

Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants
Cladium jamaicense has been found in the following 113 conservation areas :
Occurrence Native Status
A.D. Doug Barnes Park Present Native
Allapattah Flats Wildlife Management Area Present Native
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge Present Native
Babcock Ranch Preserve Present Native
Bahia Honda State Park Present Native
Big Cypress National Preserve Present Native
Big Torch Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park Present Native
Biscayne National Park Present Native
Boystown Pineland Present Native
Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve Present Native
Caloosahatchee Regional Park Present Native
Cayo Costa State Park Present Native
Chapman Field Park Present Native
Collier-Seminole State Park Present Native
Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) Present Native
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Present Native
Cypress Knee Slough Preserve Present Native
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks Botanical State Park Present Native
Deering Estate at Cutler Present Native
Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park Present Native
Doris Davis Forman Wilderness Preserve Natural Area Present Native
Dupuis Reserve Present Native
Estero Bay Preserve State Park Present Native
Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area Present Native
Everglades National Park Present Native
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park Present Native
Fern Forest Nature Center Present Native
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge Present Native
Fred C. Babcock-Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area Present Native
Frenchman's Forest Natural Area Present Native
Frog Pond/L-31 N Transition Lands Present Native
Gomez Present Native
Grassy Waters Preserve Present Native
Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge Reported
Greynolds Park Present Native
Halpatiokee Regional Park Present Native
Hawk's Hammock Park Present Native
Hickey Creek Mitigation Park Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Hillsboro Pineland Natural Area Present Native
Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge Present Native
Holey Land Wildlife Management Area Present Native
Homestead Bayfront Park Present Native
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park Present Native
Ives Estate Park Present Native
J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge Present Native
J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area Present Native
John D. MacArthur Beach State Park Present Native
Jonathan Dickinson State Park Present Native
Juno Dunes Natural Area Present Native
Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area Native
Jupiter Ridge Natural Area Present Native
Kiplinger Present Native
Koreshan State Historic Site Present Native
Lake Okeechobee Marshes Present Native
Larry and Penny Thompson Park Present Native
Little Hamaca Park Reported
Little Torch Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Long Key Natural Area & Nature Center Present Native
Loxahatchee River Natural Area Present Native
Loxahatchee River-Lake Worth Creek Aquatic Preserve Present Native
Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area Present Native
Lucille Hammock Present Native
Luis Martinez United States Army Reserve Station, Richmond Pine Rocklands Present Native
Mangrove Preserve Present Native
Matheson Hammock Park Present Native
Middle Torch Hammocks Anderson, Lipchak, 3112 Parcels, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Middle Torch Hammocks Parcel 3063, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Military Trail Natural Area Present Native
Milton E. Thompson Park Present Native
National Key Deer Refuge Present Native
Navy Wells Pineland Preserve Present Native
Nicodemus Slough Present Native
Nixon Smiley Pineland Addition Present Native
Nixon Smiley Pineland Preserve Present Native
Ocean Ridge Hammock Park Present Native
Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest, Okaloacoochee Slough Wildlife Management Area Present Native
Okaloacoochee Slough Wildlife Management Area - FWC, Okaloacoochee Slough Wildlife Management Area Present Native
Okeeheelee Park Present Native
Oleta River State Park Present Native
Pal-Mar Present Native
Pal-Mar Natural Area Present Native
Peck Lake Park Present Native
Picayune Strand State Forest Present Native
Pine Jog Environmental Sciences Center Present Native
Pond Apple Slough Natural Area Present Native
Prairie Pines Preserve Present Native
Quail Roost Pineland Present Native
Railhead Scrub Preserve Present Native
Ramrod Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Present Native
Rotenberger Wildlife Management Area Present Native
Royal Palm Beach Pines Natural Area Present Native
Savannas Preserve State Park Present Native
Seabranch Preserve State Park Present Native
Secret Woods Nature Center Present Native
Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve Present Native
South Dade Wetlands Present Native
Southern Glades Present Native
Spoonbill Sound Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Sugarloaf Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Tall Cypress Natural Area Present Native
Tamiami Pineland Complex Addition Present Native
Tradewinds Park & Stables Present Native
Trail Glades Range Present Native
Tree Island Park Present Native
Tree Tops Park Present Native
Warbler Wetland Natural Area Present Native
Wild Turkey Strand Preserve Present Native
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park Doubtfully Present
Woodmont Natural Area Present Native
Yamato Scrub Natural Area Present Native
Yellow Fever Creek Preserve Present Native

Cladium jamaicense has been found in the following 10 counties :
Occurrence Native Status
Broward County Native
Charlotte County Native
Collier County Native
Hendry County Native
Lee County Native
Martin County Native
Miami-Dade County Native
Monroe County (Keys) Native
Monroe County (Mainland) Native
Palm Beach County Native

Cladium jamaicense has been found in the following 19 habitats :
Basin Marsh
Bayhead
Coastal Interdunal Swale
Depression Marsh
Disturbed Wetland
Dome Swamp
Floodplain Marsh
Freshwater Tidal Swamp
Marl Prairie
Marsh Lake
Mesic Flatwoods
Pine Rockland
Sinkhole
Slough
Strand Swamp
Swale
Swamp Lake
Wet Flatwoods
Wet Prairie

All Images:

Cladium jamaicense
Copyright by: Roger L. Hammer
Cladium jamaicense
Copyright by: James Johnson, 2014
In habitat, Everglades National Park, Florida
Cladium jamaicense
Copyright by: Jay Horn via iNaturalist
Cladium jamaicense
Copyright by: Jay Horn via iNaturalist
Cladium jamaicense
Copyright by: Keith A. Bradley
Cladium jamaicense
Copyright by: Susan Trammell