Grey Club Rush

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / saprobe
sporodochium of Arthrinium dematiaceous anamorph of Arthrinium curvatum var. minus is saprobic on dead stem of Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
Remarks: season: 2-11

Foodplant / saprobe
sporodochium of Arthrinium dematiaceous anamorph of Arthrinium puccinioides is saprobic on often dry, bleached, dead leaf of Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
Remarks: season: (1-)3-5(-12)

Foodplant / saprobe
immersed pseudothecium of Didymella proximella is saprobic on dead leaf of Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
Remarks: season: 3-7

Foodplant / saprobe
immersed, becoming exposed by lifting of operculum apothecium of Hysterostegiella fenestrata is saprobic on dead stem of Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
Remarks: season: 8

Foodplant / saprobe
colony of Alternaria dematiaceous anamorph of Macrospora scirpicola is saprobic on dead, standing stem of Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
Remarks: season: 9-5

Foodplant / saprobe
pseudothecium of Massariosphaeria rubelloides is saprobic on dead stem of Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
Remarks: season: 4-8

Foodplant / saprobe
immersed pseudothecium of Massariosphaeria scirpina is saprobic on dead stem of Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani

Foodplant / saprobe
scattered, initially immersed pseudothecium of Phaeosphaeria eustoma is saprobic on dead stem of Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
Remarks: season: spring, summer

Foodplant / saprobe
immersed pycnidium of Stagonospora coelomycetous anamorph of Stagonospora aquatica is saprobic on dead stem of Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
Remarks: season: 7-9

Two yellow-striped forms of Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani are grown as ornamentals.

Schoenoplectus validus, described from the Caribbean, and S. tabernaemontani, described from Europe, are here treated as one variable, cosmopolitan species without infraspecific taxa, pending further studies (J. Browning et al. 1995b; S. G. Smith 1995). Most North American plants have spikelets with reddish papillae or prickles on the scales, whereas some plants of coastal and boreal North America closely resemble most plants of northwestern Europe and southern Africa in their densely reddish prickly-papillose scales and are similar to the type of Scirpus glaucus J. E. Smith.

Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, S. acutus, S. heterochaetus, S. lacustris, and S. triqueter belong to the very difficult S. lacustris complex. The entire complex except S. triqueter was treated as the single species Scirpus lacustris (T. Koyama 1962b). Many Old World authors treat Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani as S. lacustris var. tabernaemontani or subsp. glaucus.

Much of the local infraspecific variation in the Schoenoplectus lacustris complex is probably because of hybridization. Some studies support the recognition of separate species in this group (J. Browning et al. 1995b). Hybrids in North America include S. acutus × S. tabernaemontani, widespread and common, especially in the east; S. acutus × S. heterochaetus = S. ×oblongus (T. Koyama) Soják, widespread but uncommon; S. heterochaetus × S. tabernaemontani = S. ×steinmetzii (Fernald) S. G. Smith, eastern and most uncommon; S. tabernaemontani × S. triqueter = S. ×kuekenthalianus (Junge) Kent, lower Columbia River in Oregon and probably Washington; and S. acutus var. occidentalis × S. californicus, local in California. Except for its trigonous culms, S. triqueter is very similar to the S. lacustris complex and freely hybridizes with S. tabernaemontani, both in North America and Europe.

Rhizomes 3–10 mm diam. Culms cylindric, 0.5–3 m × 2–10 mm. Leaves 3–4, basal; sheath fronts membranous-translucent, often pinnate-fibrillose; blades 1–2, C-shaped to dorsiventrally flat in cross section, usually much shorter than sheath, distal blade 2–200 × 1–4 mm, margins often scabridulous. Inflorescences 2–4 times branched, branches to 15(–25) cm; proximal bract usually erect, thickly C-shaped to subterete, 1–8 cm, margins sometimes scabridulous. Spikelets 15–200, solitary or in clusters of 2–4(–7), commonly all solitary, 3–17 × 2.5–4 mm; scales uniformly dark to pale orange-brown, sometimes straw-colored, sometimes prominently lineolate-spotted, midrib often pale or green, ovate, 2–3.5 × 1.5–2 mm, sparsely (rarely densely) reddish or straw-colored, scabrous on awn and distal parts of midrib and sometimes flanks, margins ciliate, hairs contorted; flanks veinless, apex obtuse to rounded, notch 0.2–0.3 mm deep, awn straight or bent, 0.2–0.8 mm. Flowers: perianth bristles 6, brown, ± equaling achene, densely retrorsely spinulose; anthers 2 mm; styles 2-fid, sometimes 3-fid near spikelet apex. Achenes dark gray-brown when ripe, plano-convex, obovoid, 1.5–2.8 × 1.2–1.7 mm; beak 0.2–0.4 mm. 2n = 42.

Eurasia; from subarctic to temperate zones, as well as at high altitudes in the tropics and subtropics.

0–2400

2500-3700 m

Fruiting late spring–summer, spring–winter (south).

Fresh to brackish marshes, fens, bogs, lakes, stream banks and bars, pioneering in disturbed places, often emergent in water to 1m.

Scirpus tabernaemontani C. C. Gmelin, Fl. Bad. 1: 101. 1805; S. lacustris Linnaeus subsp. glaucus (Smith) Hartman; S. lacustris subsp. validus (Vahl) T. Koyama; S. lacustris var. tabernaemontani (C. C. Gmelin) Döll; S. validus Vahl; S. validus var. creber Fernald

More info for the term: marsh

The effects of fire on wetland plants after drawdowns in Utah's Great
Salt Lake Marsh were studied [27]. On burned sites new shoots had a
lower biomass per inch of length than shoots on unburned sites.

More info for the term: marsh

Prescribed fires were lit in early September following April drawdowns
in the Great Salt Lake Marsh [27]. No distininction was made between S.
validus and S. acutus in this study. Both were referred to as S.
lacustris. Burned and unburned sites were reflooded 1 week following
fire. Stands of bulrush on burned sites were similar to those on
unburned sites during the first year. Bulrush began sprouting
immediately following fire, growing to a height of 1.3 feet (0.4 m)
before the first winter. Production did not differ between sites.

Waterfowl and muskrats can reduce soft-stem bulrush through overgrazing,
especially following fire [27].

soft-stem bulrush
softstem bulrush
soft-stem clubrush
great bulrush
giant bulrush
bullwhip
common bulrush

More info for the term: cover

Soft-stem bulrush provides good cover for waterfowl, especially in
conjunction with common cattail (Typha latifolia) [13].

More info for the terms: achene, fruit, marsh

Soft-stem bulrush is a tall, leafless marsh plant 1.5 to 9 feet (0.5-3
m) high and 0.12 to 0.8 inches (0.3-2 cm) thick with scaly, stout,
horizontal rhizomes [11]. The stems are obscurely three-sided and
spongy [17]. Spikes occur near the stem tips in branched clusters [8].
The fruit is an achene [11].

Soft-stem bulrush occurs throughout North America from central Alaska
south to Mexico, east to the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and south
through Florida. It does not occur through central and southern
California [8]. It is native on the Hawaiian islands of Niihau, Oahu,
Molokai, and Hawaii [34].

More info for the term: fire regime

Soft-stem bulrush sprouts from rhizomes following fire [27].

FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".

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More info for the term: geophyte

Geophyte

More info for the term: fresh

Soft-stem bulrush grows in marshes, along lake and stream shores, and in
wet meadows. It grows in fresh or brackish water [5,16,23]. Soils are
usually poorly-drained [5], or continually saturated [12]. Soft-stem
bulrush grows in silty or peaty soils [18]. Under greenhouse conditions
soft-stem bulrush produced more aboveground biomass in silty clay soils
than in clay or sand alone [1]. Belowground biomass was equal in silty
clays and clays, and lower in sandy soils. Soft-stem bulrush seems to
grow better in saline conditions than in fresh water, and it tolerates a
wide range of salinity [32].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

63 Cottonwood
235 Cottonwood - willow

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES39 Prairie
FRES41 Wet grasslands

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: forest

K025 Alder - ash forest
K049 Tule marshes
K063 Foothills prairie
K072 Sea oats prairie
K073 Northern cordgrass prairie
K075 Nebraska Sandhills prairie
K078 Southern cordgrass prairie
K080 Marl - everglades
K092 Everglades
K098 Northern floodplain forest

Fire topkills soft-stem bulrush stands [13] and reduces shoot mass of
Scirpus species [27].

The seeds of soft-stem bulrush are eaten by waterfowl and considered a
good to excellent food source in South Dakota [3,9].

Soft-stem bulrush is a dominant in the following classification type:

Landscape classification and plant successional trends in the
Peace-Athabasca Delta [7]

Some species associated with soft-stem bulrush are smartweed (Polygonum
spp.), sedge (Carex spp.), common cattail, reed (Phragmites spp.), water
hemlock (Circuta maculata), spikerush (Eleocharis calva), fowl
mannagrass (Glyceria striata), tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia
caespitosa), beggartick (Bidens spp.), narrowlieaf burreed (Sparganium
eurycarpum), common arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia), sego pondweed
(Potamogeton pectinatus), and nodding waternymph (Najas flexilis)
[4,6,19].

More info for the term: graminoid

Graminoid

More info for the term: marsh

Livestock grazing in wetlands can reduce soft-stem bulrush [13].

Soft-stem bulrush will establish from the seedbank following periodic
draining and reflooding of marshes [6,22]. However, prolonged draining
and reflooding can reduce soft-stem bulrush stands [18]. In a Minnesota
marsh, early to mid-June drawdowns favored soft-stem bulrush stands in
the first 2 years. After the third-year drawdonw, bulrush began to
decrease in water depths greater than 15 inches (38 cm). Eventually it
was eradicated from all areas reflooded annually [18].

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA
HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD
MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ
NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC
SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY
AB BC MB NB NF NT NS ON PE PQ
SK YT MEXICO

Roots of soft-stem bulrush can be ground into flour or eaten whole.
Syrup can be extracted from them [8].

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Because of the wide distribution of soft-stem bulrush, its growing
seasons varies with latitude. In the northeast soft-stem bulrush
flowers from July through August [23]. Flowering lasts from 5 to 6
months in wetland prairies of Nebraska [28]. Fernald [11] reported
fruits generally ripening from June through September.

More info for the term: marsh

Soft-stem bulrush sprouts from rhizomes following fire [27].

Fire increases protein content of Scirpus acutus, a closely related
species [33]. Wetland vertebrates may select certain marsh plant
species due to protein increases following fire [27].

More info for the terms: ground residual colonizer, herb, rhizome

Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)

More info for the term: seed

Soft-stem bulrush reproduces by both rhizomes and seeds [11,17]. It
reproduces well from seed stored in the seedbank [18]. Soil-stored
seed can remain viable for as long as 20 years [31]. In the lab, seed
viability in dry storage is more than 2 years [14].

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands

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More info for the terms: sere, shrubs, succession

Facultative Seral Species

Soft-stem bulrush is a perennial [17] and is a dominant emergent in the
northern plains and prairie states [19]. It is replaced by cattail
(Typha spp.) in continuously flooded marshes following drawdown [18].
Soft-stem bulrush is found in the third sere of succession in Wisconsin
marshes, preceded by submerged and floating plant stages and followed by
sedge meadows, shrubs, and trees [12].

Scirpus lacustris L. subsp. creber (Fernald) T. Koyama
Scirpus lacustris L. subsp. glaucus (Rchb.) Hartm.
Scirpus lacustris L. subsp. validus (Vahl) T. Koyama [35]
Scirpus validus Vahl [16]

The currently accepted scientific name for soft-stem bulrush is
Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (K.C. Gmel.) Palla (Cyperaceae) [35,36].

More info for the term: restoration

Soft-stem bulrush is used in wetland restoration and is best planted
vegetatively because it can triple its biomass in one growing season
[20]. It is also used to reduce pollutant loads carried by storm water
runoff in urban wetlands [25].

Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani

Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (syn. Scirpus validus) is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names softstem bulrush, grey club-rush, and great bulrush. It can be found throughout much of the world; it has been reported from every state in the United States (including Hawaii), and from every province and territory in Canada except Nunavut. It grows in moist and wet habitat, and sometimes in shallow water.

Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani is quite variable in appearance, thus explaining the long list of synonyms that have been created over the years. It is a perennial herb producing dense stands of many narrow erect stems reaching 1–3 m (33–100 inches) in height. It grows from a long rhizome system. The leaves are mostly basal and have wide sheaths around the stems. The inflorescence is generally a panicle of spikelets on long, thin branches which spread, arch, or droop. The spikelets vary in color. There is usually a long, stiff bract alongside each spikelet or cluster of spikelets.

A cultivar of this species with bright horizontal white or yellowish stripes, S. tabernaemontani 'Zebrinus', is sold as an ornamental plant for water gardens and landscaping. Solid white and yellow cultivars are also available.