Clinton's Leafless Bulrush

Plants densely cespitose; rhizomes absent. Culms trigonous, 7.5–36 cm, scabrous proximal to inflorescence. Leaves: basal sheaths orange to dark brown; distal leaf sheaths truncate to concave at mouth; blades (6–)15–250 × 0.5–0.8(–1) mm, equaling or shorter than culms at flowering, much shorter than culms at fruiting. Inflorescences: spikelets 3–6-flowered, 3.4–5.3 × 1.3–2.5 mm; bracts shorter than to slightly exceeding spikelets, 3–6 mm, apex mucronate or awned, awn to 1.4 mm. Spikelets: scales orange-brown to dark brown, midribs not reaching apices in distal scales, apex obtuse. Flowers: perianth bristles 3–6, pale brown, terete, equaling or shorter than achenes, scabrous; anthers 0.7–1.5 mm. Achenes compressed trigonous, 1.5–2 × 1–1.2 mm.

Alta., N.B., Ont., Que., Sask.; Maine, Mich., Minn., N.Y., Wis.

Fruiting late summer (May–Jul).

Open, dry to mesic prairies, meadows, riverbanks, rock outcrops, on lime-rich substrates; 10–900m.

Scirpus clintonii A. Gray, Amer. J. Sci. Arts, ser. 2, 38: 290. 1864; S. planifolius Muhlenberg var. brevifolius Torrey

Scirpus clintonii A. Gray, Am. Jour. Sci. II. 38: 290. 1864
Scirpus planifolius /3 brevifolius Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3: 442. 1836.
Perennial; culms 1-3.5 dm. high, erect, tufted, from short rootstocks, clothed at the base with brown, persistent sheaths, slender, green, trigonous, the angles minutely scabrous, grooved ; cauline leaves few, reduced to subulate awns or the upper 2-25 cm. long, 0.5 mm. broad, flat, erect, with blunt (scabrous or smooth) tips, sometimes equaling but not exceeding the culms; upper sheaths hyaline, uniformly flecked with red, the orifice abruptly contracted; spikelets 4-5 mm. long, 2 mm. broad, solitary, terminal, terete, ovoid; outermost scale prolonged into a blunt, scabrous-margined bract shorter than the spikelet; inner scales broadly ovate, the midrib green, the margins chestnut; bristles 3-6, variable, often equaling or exceeding the achene, terete, with fine hairs; stamens 3; style 1.5 mm. long, trifid, brick-colored; achene 2 mm. long, 1.25 mm. broad, light brown, smooth, obovoid, compressed, trigonous, beakless.
Type locality: Between Buffalo and Williamsville, New York.
Distribution: Dry banks; Quebec, south to New York, west to Minnesota.

Trichophorum clintonii, the Clinton's bulrush, is a plant species native to Canada and the northeastern United States. It has been reported from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Maine, New York State, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Trichophorum clintonii is a perennial herb up to 40 centimeters (16 in) tall, forming dense clumps but without rhizomes. Culms are triangular in cross-section. Leaves are up to 25 centimeters (9.8 in) long. The inflorescences is one brown spikelet with three to six flowers. Achenes are flattened triangles about 2 millimeters (0.079 in) long.