Schoenoplectus americanus

Olney's three-square bulrush, Olney's Three-Square Bulrush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Olney's three-square bulrush is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern coastal California, high Cascade Range, Central Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, southwestern California, Great Basin, and desert regions in mineral-rich or brackish marshes and shores at elevations below 2,200 meters. Flowering during summer, this plant produces small clustered spikelets 5 to 15 millimeters long with inconspicuous flowers. Growing 0.4 to 2.5 meters tall with a long rhizome, it features distinctively three-sided stems 3 to 10 millimeters in diameter with deep concave sides and sharp edges. Its leaves are 2 to 8 millimeters wide, three-sided toward the tip, and generally flat, emerging from sheaths that do not split. The fruit is small, smooth, and 1.8 to 2.8 millimeters long with two or three obscure sides.

Habitat: Mineral-rich or brackish marshes, shores, fens, springs

Bloom period: Summer

Elevation: < 2200 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, CaRH, GV, SnFrB, SW, GB, D

California counties: San Bernardino, San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Marin, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Plumas, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, Ventura, Alpine, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Napa, Fresno, Contra Costa, Colusa, Nevada, San Mateo, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Humboldt, Del Norte, Mendocino, Yolo, Santa Cruz

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