Amphiscirpus nevadensis

Great basin bulrush, Nevada Bulrush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Great basin bulrush is a California native perennial found in the California Ranges, Great Basin, and Desert regions in saline, often alkaline seasonal wetlands at elevations of 400 to 2,400 meters. Flowering during summer, this plant produces pale to dark red-brown flowers in small head-like clusters with 1 to 6 spikelets. Growing 10 to 70 centimeters tall with smooth, tough, and wiry stems, it spreads through long, hard rhizomes that are 1 to 4 millimeters in diameter. Its basal leaves are spiraled, C-shaped in cross-section, 5 to 10 in number, with sharp tips and sparse scabrous margins measuring 0.5 to 2 millimeters wide. The plant's flower bracts are shiny, papery to tough, with ciliate margins and varying from 3 to 9 veined.

Habitat: Saline, often alkaline seasonal wetlands

Bloom period: Summer

Elevation: 400-2400 m

Bioregions: CaR, GB, D

California counties: Lassen, Inyo, Mono, Kern, Modoc, Siskiyou, Tulare

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.