Schoenoplectus californicus

Southern bulrush, Southern Bulrush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Southern bulrush is a California native perennial found in coastal, central, and southern California regions, including the Great Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, and Colorado River areas in brackish to fresh marshes and shores at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from spring to summer, this plant produces dark red-brown flowers in dense, branching clusters with spikelets 5 to 11 millimeters long. Growing impressively tall at 1 to 4 meters with thick rhizomes 10 to 15 millimeters in diameter, it develops robust stems 4 to 10 millimeters thick that are blunt three-sided or cylindrical. Its minimal leaves are flat, less than 2 centimeters long and 2 millimeters wide, with sheaths that split and leave coarse fibers. The fruit is small, smooth, and two-sided, measuring 1.8 to 2.2 millimeters long with soft-margined perianth bristles.

Habitat: Common. Brackish to fresh marshes, shores

Bloom period: Spring-summer

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: NCo, GV, CCo, SnFrB, SCo, n ChI, PR, w DMoj, e D (Colorado River)

California counties: Riverside, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Marin, Monterey, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Imperial, Inyo, Mendocino, Alameda, San Joaquin, Napa, Tehama, Humboldt, Butte

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