| Author | (Michaux) Yates | |
| Distribution | Across most of the state, but local in the low Mountains, and absent from the Sandhills proper and the outer Coastal Plain. Occurs in watersheds of brownwater rivers. A specimen purportedly from Dare County (at DUKE) is actually from the Roanoke River and probably from Halifax County.
NJ and KS south to FL and TX. | |
| Abundance | Common in the Piedmont and inner Coastal Plain; uncommon to locally common in the Mountains; rare to absent elsewhere (in the lower Coastal Plain and Sandhills). Where found, plants are usually common to abundant. This is clearly an S5 species in the state, not S4 as assigned by the NCNHP. | |
| Habitat | Floodplain forests and bottomlands of brownwater rivers and their tributaries. Weakley (2018) also states "seepages and glades over mafic or calcareous rock"--does this refer to NC? | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting June-October. | |
| Identification | This species is virtually unmistakable in flower/fruit, with its stem 2-4 feet tall and large arching inflorescence with drooping spikelets. The spikelets are flattened, 7-20 flowered, and at a distance resemble so many tiny fish dangling from multiple lines on a fishing pole. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | A synonym is Uniola latifolia Michaux.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Fish-on-a-String, Northern Sea Oats, Inland Sea Oats, Indian Wood-oats. Most users in NC call it River Oats, as does Weakley (2018). | |
| State Rank | S4 [S5] | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FAC link |
| USACE-emp | FACU link |
