| Scirpus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scirpus atrovirens | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Cyperaceae |
| Genus: | Scirpus L. |
| Species | |
About 120; see text | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
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Scirpus is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush (see also bulrush for other plant genera so-named). They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations.
The taxonomy of the genus is complex, and under review by botanists. Recent studies by taxonomists of the Cyperaceae have resulted in the creation of several new genera, including the genera Schoenoplectus and Bolboschoenus ; others (including Blysmus , Isolepis , Nomochloa , and Scirpoides ) have also been used. At one point this genus held almost 300 species, but many of the species once assigned to it have now been reassigned, and it now holds an estimated 120 species.
Scirpus are rhizomatous perennial herbs, with 3-angled stems and flat grass-like leaves. The flowers are in clusters of small spikelets, often brown or greenish brown. [2] : 992 Some species (e.g. S. lacustris) can reach a height of 3 m, while S. sylvaticus is about 1.2 m and others, such as S. supinus, are much smaller, only reaching 20–30 cm tall.
The genus has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution, found on every continent except Africa and Antarctica. [1]
Many species are common in wetlands and can produce dense stands of vegetation, along rivers, [3] [4] in coastal deltas [5] and in ponds and potholes. [6] Although flooding is the most important factor affecting its distribution, drought, ice scour, grazing, fire and salinity also affect its abundance. [7] It can survive unfavourable conditions like prolonged flooding, or drought, as buried seeds [8]
Scirpus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Chedra microstigma [9] [10] and Scirpophaga nivella . [11]
Several hundred fossil fruits of Scirpus ragozinii have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark. [12] 35 fossil fruits of the extant Scirpus sylvaticus have been extracted from borehole samples of the Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians, Poland. [13]
Scirpus species are often planted to inhibit soil erosion and provide habitat for other wildlife. They are also used in some herbal remedies; the plant's rhizomes are collected in the autumn and winter and dried in the sun before use.
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus Carex with over 2,000 species.
Schoenoplectus acutus, called tule, common tule, hardstem tule, tule rush, hardstem bulrush, or viscid bulrush, is a giant species of sedge in the plant family Cyperaceae, native to freshwater marshes all over North America. The common name derives from the Nāhuatl word tōllin, and it was first applied by the early settlers from New Spain who recognized the marsh plants in the Central Valley of California as similar to those in the marshes around Mexico City.
Schoenoplectus is a genus of plants in the sedges with a cosmopolitan distribution. Note that the name bulrush is also applied to species in the unrelated genus Typha as well as to other sedges. The genus Schoenoplectus was formerly considered part of Scirpus, but recent phylogenetic data shows that they are not closely related.
Schoeneoplectus californicus is a species of sedge known by the common names California bulrush, southern bulrush and giant bulrush. It is also sometimes called "tule", but the closely related Schoenoplectus acutus is the species most often referred to by that name.
Ficinia nodosa, the knotted club-rush or knobby club-rush, is a rhizomatous perennial in the family Cyperaceae, native to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Widespread in the Southern Hemisphere, Ficinia nodosa grows to between 15 and 220 cm in height. Although it grows best in sandy, salty soil, the plant grows in a wide variety of environments from coastal sand dunes to alpine regions. F. nodosa’s appearance is characterised by dense clusters of long green stems topped with small, rounded flowers often remaining throughout the year.
Bolboschoenus fluviatilis, the river bulrush, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. Its range includes Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Canada, the United States, and northeastern Mexico. B. fluviatilis and its fruits are important as food sources for waterfowl such as geese, ducks, bitterns, and swans. It also provides cover and nesting sites for these and other species of birds, as well as small mammals. Like other Bolboschoenus species, B. fluviatilis has strong tubers and rhizomes which help to stabilize intertidal habitats by preventing erosion.
Scirpus cyperinus, commonly known as woolgrass, is an emergent wetland herb that is native to the eastern United States and eastern Canada. Other common names include cottongrass bulrush and brown woolly sedge.
Schoenoplectus pungens is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known as common threesquare, common three-square bulrush and sharp club-rush. It is a herbaceous emergent plant that is widespread across much of North and South America as well as Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
Isolepis cernua is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names low bulrush, slender club-rush, tufted clubrush, and fiberoptic grass. It is widespread, being native to many regions of the world, including parts of Australasia, Eurasia, Africa, and North and South America.
Schoenoplectus americanus is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names chairmaker's bulrush and Olney's three-square bulrush. It is native to the Americas, where it is known from Alaska to Nova Scotia and all the way into southern South America; it is most common along the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States and in parts of the western states. It grows in many types of coastal and inland wetland habitat, as well as sagebrush, desert scrub, chaparral, and plains. This rhizomatous perennial herb easily exceeds two meters in height. The stiff stems are sharply three-angled and usually very concave between the edges. Each plant has three or fewer leaves which are short and narrow. The inflorescence is a small head of several spikelets which may be brown to bright orange, red, purplish, or pale and translucent. They have hairy edges. The fruit is a brown achene. The plant reproduces sexually by seed and colonies spread via vegetative reproduction, sprouting from the rhizomes.
Schoenoplectus heterochaetus is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common name slender bulrush. It is native to North America, where it can be found in scattered locations in Canada and the United States.
Schoenoplectiella mucronata is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names bog bulrush, rough-seed bulrush, and ricefield bulrush. It is native to Eurasia, Africa and Australia. It grows in moist and wet terrestrial habitat, and in shallow water. It is a perennial herb growing from a short, hard rhizome. The erect, three-angled stems grow in dense clumps and can reach a metre tall. The leaves take the form of sheaths wrapped around the base of stem, but they generally do not have blades. The inflorescence is a headlike cluster of cone-shaped spikelets accompanied by an angled, stiff bract which may look like a continuation of the stem.
Amphiscirpus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the sedge family containing the single species Amphiscirpus nevadensis, which is known by the common name Nevada bulrush.
Bolboschoenus robustus is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It is known by many common names: saltmarsh bulrush, alkali bulrush, sturdy bulrush, seacoast bulrush, stout bulrush, three-cornered sedge or leafy three-cornered sedge, and seaside club-rush.
Schoenoplectiella hallii is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common name Hall's bulrush. It is native to the United States, where it has a disjunct distribution, occurring in widely spaced locations throughout the Midwest and East. It is a rare plant.
Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants
Bolboschoenus novae-angliae, common names New England bulrush, and Salt march bulrush is a plant species found along the Atlantic seacoast of the United States from Alabama to Maine. It grows in brackish and salt-water marshes and estuaries along the coast.
Schoenoplectus lacustris, the lakeshore bulrush or common club-rush, is a species of club-rush that grows in fresh water across Europe and some neighbouring areas.
Isolepis prolifera is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae that grows in temperate regions of the Southern Hemisphere. It has leafless stems up to 90 cm (35 in) tall, and clusters of flowers that often proliferate into branches.
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