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Saururus cernuus

Lizard's-tail

G5Secure Found in 7 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

UnknownThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.129260

Element CodePDSAU02010

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomPlantae

PhylumAnthophyta

ClassDicotyledoneae

OrderPiperales

FamilySaururaceae

GenusSaururus

Other Common Names

lizard's-tail (EN) Saurure penché (FR)

Concept Reference

Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Conservation Status

Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2

Review Date2025-01-31

Change Date1984-09-06

Edition Date2025-01-31

Edition AuthorsSoteropoulos (2025)

Threat ImpactUnknown

Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences> 300

Rank Reasons

Saururus cernuus is a wide-ranging perennial herb in a variety of wetland habitats occurring in eastern and south-central North America from southern Ontario and Quebec, Canada south into the United States from Rhode Island west to Michigan and Kansas south to Florida and Texas. Threats potentially include development, rights-of-way maintenance, logging, hydrological alteration, invasive species, and droughts. Little is known about trends, but with a large range extent and large number of occurrences, abundant habitat, broad habitat preferences, and no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities, this species is considered secure.

Range Extent Comments

Saururus cernuus occurs in eastern and south-central North America from southern Ontario and Quebec, Canada south into the United States from Rhode Island west to Michigan and Kansas south to Florida and Texas (FNA 1997, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2024). Range extent was estimated to be approximately 3.6 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens and photo-based observations documented between 1994 and 2025 (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, SEINet 2025).

Occurrences Comments

By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens and photo-based observations documented between 1994 and 2025, it is estimated that there are over 5,000 occurrences rangewide (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, SEINet 2025).

Threat Impact Comments

Although threats are not widely documented, this species is potentially threatened by development, rights-of-way maintenance, logging, hydrological alteration, invasive species, droughts, and other threats in some places. However, their overall impact is likely negligible given the species' broad range, large number of occurrences, and no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Saururus cernuus grows in "wet soil, fresh or slightly brackish water to depth of 5 dm," including "swamps, overwash pools in stream floodplains, freshwater and oligohaline tidal marshes, semi-permanently inundated rocky bars and shores, beaver ponds, ditches, usually where water ponds seasonally or periodically" (FNA 1997, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2024).

Palustrine Habitats

TEMPORARY POOLHERBACEOUS WETLANDSCRUB-SHRUB WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDRiparian

Other Nations (2)

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
Connecticut	S1	Yes
Louisiana	SNR	Yes
Virginia	S5	Yes
Kansas	S2	Yes
Michigan	SNR	Yes
Indiana	S4	Yes
West Virginia	S4	Yes
Arkansas	SNR	Yes
Maryland	SNR	Yes
Florida	S5	Yes
Kentucky	S5	Yes
Massachusetts	SH	Yes
Ohio	SNR	Yes
Pennsylvania	SNR	Yes
Mississippi	SNR	Yes
Alabama	SNR	Yes
Rhode Island	S1	Yes
New York	S5	Yes
Oklahoma	SNR	Yes
Texas	SNR	Yes
Georgia	SNR	Yes
South Carolina	S5	Yes
North Carolina	S5	Yes
Illinois	S3	Yes
Delaware	S5	Yes
District of Columbia	SNR	Yes
Missouri	SNR	Yes
Tennessee	SNR	Yes
New Jersey	S5	Yes

CanadaN3

Province	Rank	Native
Ontario	S3	Yes
Quebec	S2	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
Unknown/undetermined	—	—	—

Plant Characteristics

DurationPERENNIAL

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (7)

Florida (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954

Louisiana (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Saline Bayou W & S River Corridor	Kisatchie National Forest	5,355

Missouri (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Irish Rare II Study Area	Mark Twain National Forest	1,226

North Carolina (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bald Mountain	Pisgah National Forest	11,085
Catfish Lake North	Croatan National Forest	11,299

Texas (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Winters Bayou	National Forests in Texas	730

Virginia (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Southern Massanutten	George Washington National Forest	11,985

References (6)

Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 1997. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 3. Magnoliophyta: Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxiii + 590 pp.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2025. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2025).
iNaturalist. 2025. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2025).
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2025. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2025).
Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2024. Flora of the southeastern United States. Edition of March 4, 2024. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2203 pp.

Saururus cernuus

Habitat

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