Scirpus microcarpus J. Presl & C. Presl
small-flowered bulrush (panicled bulrush)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
small-flowered bulrush (panicled bulrush)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from well-developed, stout, creeping rhizomes; stems arising singly or a few together, obscurely triangular in cross-section, 60-150 cm tall.
Leaves:
Several, both stem and basal; sheaths tinted with reddish-purple or straw-coloured to greenish, cross-wrinkled; blades flat, grass-like, (6) 8-15 (20) mm wide, up to several 10's of cm long.
Flowers:
Spikes numerous, terminal, 4-6 (8) mm long, unstalked in small stalked clusters, in a compound, umbel-like cyme; involucral bracts several, conspicuous, leaflike, unequal, sheathless, the largest rarely less than 10 cm long, sometimes as much as 30 cm long.
Fruits:
Scales numerous, blackish or greenish-black, about 1.5 mm long, largely translucent and cellular-net-veined, smooth, egg-shaped, with greener, often poorly defined midribs that may extend from the tips as minute points; perianth bristles 4 to 6, slender, minutely and finely-barbed backwards nearly to the base, nearly equal to slightly surpassing the achenes, but not exserted beyond the scales; stigmas 2; achenes biconvex, pale, 1-1.2 mm long including the abruptly sharp-pointed tips.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Scirpus microcarpus
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
562 | 0 | 1870 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
1 | 0 | 25 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
164 | 20 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 3 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
203 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ICH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(1), CDF(10), CWH(70), ESSF(7), ICH(72), IDF(11), MS(1), PP(3), SBPS(2), SBS(9) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Marshes, swamps and wet meadows in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common throughout BC except absent in NW BC; amphiberingian, N to AK, E to NF and S to ME, MA, PA, WV, KY, IA, NE, NM, AZ and CA; E Asia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Scirpus microcarpus var. longispicatus M. Peck
Scirpus microcarpus var. rubrotinctus (Fernald) M.E. Jones
Scirpus rubrotinctus Fernald
Scirpus sylvaticus
Scirpus sylvaticus subsp. digynus