Schoenoplectus subterminalis

Water bulrush, Water Bulrush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.3

Water bulrush is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California high mountains, and Sierra Nevada Highlands in fresh lakes and streams low in nutrients at elevations below 2,300 meters. Flowering during summer, this plant produces delicate spikelets 5 to 15 millimeters long with small flowers emerging from erect bracts. Growing up to 1.5 meters tall with a lax structure when submersed, it develops from a slender rhizome and has thin cylindrical stems less than 1 millimeter in diameter. Its leaves are extremely narrow, measuring 0.2 to 1 millimeter wide, with typically 3 to 20 blades emerging from the plant's base. The fruit is a smooth, three-sided structure measuring 2.5 to 3.5 millimeters long, with three persistent stigmas.

Habitat: Fresh lakes, streams low in nutrients

Bloom period: Summer

Elevation: < 2300 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNH

California counties: Plumas, Butte, Del Norte, Tehama, Nevada, Lassen, Tuolumne, El Dorado, Trinity, Humboldt

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