Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani

Soft-stem bulrush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Soft-stem bulrush is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, northern Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, southwestern California, and desert regions in fresh marshes, shores, stream bars, and fens at elevations up to 2,400 meters. Flowering in summer, this plant produces small clustered spikelets in panicle-like inflorescences. Growing 0.5 to 2 meters tall with a long rhizome and thick cylindrical stems 2 to 10 millimeters in diameter, it develops 1 to 2 leaf blades that are 1 to 4 millimeters wide and flat toward the tip. Its leaf sheaths split, often leaving behind fibrous remnants, with distinctive perianth bristles surrounding each small fruit. The compact clusters of spikelets and unique stem structure make this bulrush a distinctive wetland plant.

Habitat: Uncommon in California. Fresh marshes, shores, stream bars, fens

Bloom period: Summer

Elevation: < 2400 m

Bioregions: NW, n SNH, GV, SnFrB, SW, DSon

California counties: Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma, Trinity, Orange, Napa, Plumas, Contra Costa, Butte, Marin, Solano, Monterey, Shasta, Glenn, Tehama, Del Norte, Colusa, Siskiyou, Ventura, Kern, Riverside

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