Trichophorum cespitosum

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Trichophorum cespitosum
Trichophorum2.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Cyperaceae
Genus: Trichophorum
Species:
T. cespitosum
Binomial name
Trichophorum cespitosum
Synonyms [1]
List
    • Baeothryon cespitosum(L.) A.Dietr.
    • Clavula cespitosa(L.) Dumort.
    • Eleocharis cespitosa(L.) Link
    • Kreczetoviczia cespitosa(L.) Tzvelev
    • Limnochloa cespitosa(L.) Rchb.
    • Scirpus cespitosusL.

Trichophorum cespitosum, commonly known as deergrass [2] or tufted bulrush, [3] is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It was originally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Scirpus cespitosus, but was transferred to the genus Trichophorum by the Swedish botanist Carl Johan Hartman in 1849, becoming Trichophorum cespitosum. [4]

Contents

Description

Trichophorum cespitosum is a densely tufted perennial sedge often growing gregariously. The wiry stems are round in cross section and slightly ridged, and grow up to 1 ft (30 cm) long. The leaves are reduced to several pointed sheaths at the base of the stem. The blade of the uppermost sheath is longer than that of the few-flowered spike-rush (Eleocharis quinqueflora), an otherwise similar plant, which has a small squarish upper leaf blade. The brownish inflorescence is a very small, narrow terminal head, with the basal pointed, ribbed green glume the same length as the rest of the head. The fruit is an ovoid, three-sided nut 2 mm (0.08 in) in diameter. [4]

Distribution and habitat

Trichophorum cespitosum has a circum-boreal montane distribution. In the British Isles it occurs in Scotland, Northwest England, Wales, Southwest England and most of Ireland, thinning out in Southeastern England. It grows in wet acidic soils and peats, in bogs, moorland and wet heaths, persisting even in burnt areas and where grazing pressure by deer is high. It grows from sea level to at least 1,190 m (3,900 ft) in Britain, above Caenlochan in Angus. [5] It is a common species, growing abundantly in suitable conditions. [4]

Ecology

Flatter mires in the Alps and other montane regions are often dominated by deergrass and cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium), forming a community that turns brown in winter. It only grows at the margins of active bogs, being dominated by sphagnum moss (Sphagnum spp.) in the raised central areas, but becomes dominant itself when drainage is undertaken. [6] In wet heathland it may be associated with heather (Calluna vulgaris) and purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea), and provide grazing for deer, cattle and sheep. [7]

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<i>Rhynchospora alba</i> Species of plant

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<i>Eriophorum vaginatum</i> Species of flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae

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<i>Isolepis setacea</i> Species of grass-like plant

Isolepis setacea is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names bristle club-rush and bristleleaf bulrush. It is native to Eurasia and Africa, and possibly Australasia. It can be found in other places, including some areas in North America, where it is an introduced species. It grows in many types of moist and wet habitat, often in coastal regions, and sometimes inland. It is a perennial herb which forms mats of very thin, grooved, erect or arching stems up to about 20 centimeters tall. The leaves sheath the stem bases and have short, flat, thick blades. The inflorescence is a solitary spikelet just a few millimeters long, or a cluster of up to three spikelets. These are accompanied by a stiff bract extending past the flowers.

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<i>Carex bigelowii</i> Species of grass-like flowering plant

Carex bigelowii is a species of sedge known by the common names Bigelow's sedge, Gwanmo sedge, and stiff sedge. It has an Arctic–alpine distribution in Eurasia and North America, and grows up to 50 centimetres (20 in) tall in a variety of habitats.

<i>Carex simpliciuscula</i> Species of flowering plants

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<i>Trichophorum alpinum</i> Species of flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae

Trichophorum alpinum, commonly known as alpine bulrush or cotton deergrass, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. It is present in Europe, Asia, and northern North America.

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Garron Plateau ASSI is a 4652.18-hectare area of special scientific interest in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Upland blanket bogs cover basalt rocks, and flushing by mineral-enriched water has resulted in the formation of alkaline fen vegetation. There are small areas of standing and running water but bogs, marshes, water fringed vegetation and fens cover 70% of the area. The remainder is heath and scrubland, humid grassland and mesophile grassland.

The Mouds Bog Special Area of Conservation or SAC is a Natura 2000 site based close to the Hill of Allen and to Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. The qualifying interests by which it is protected as an SAC are the presence of three habitat types: the presence of active raised bogs, the presence of degraded raised bogs still capable of natural regeneration, and the presence of depressions on peat substrates of Rhynchosporion vegetation.

<i>Trichophorum cespitosum <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> germanicum</i> Subspecies of flowering plant

Trichophorum cespitosum subsp. germanicum is a subspecies of Trichophorum cespitosum. It is a characteristic plant of nutrient-poor moors, wet heaths and moorland forests. The mostly hedgehog-shaped form of its tufts is characteristic.

References

  1. "Trichophorum cespitosum (L.) Hartm". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  2. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  3. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Trichophorum cespitosum". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 McClintock, David; Fitter, R.S.R. (1961). The Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers. London: Collins. p. 201.
  5. "Trichophorum cespitosum". Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  6. Leuschner, Christoph; Ellenberg, Heinz (2017). Ecology of Central European Non-Forest Vegetation: Coastal to Alpine, Natural to Man-Made Habitats: Vegetation Ecology of Central Europe, Volume II. Springer. pp. 148–9. ISBN   978-3-319-43048-5.
  7. Kent, Martin (2011). Vegetation Description and Data Analysis: A Practical Approach. John Wiley & Sons. p. 159. ISBN   978-1-119-96239-7.