Scirpus congdonii

Congdon's bulrush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Congdon's bulrush is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, and Modoc Plateau in meadows, marshes, lake shores, and streambanks at elevations of 700 to 2,600 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces spikelets in head-like clusters with flower bracts that are generally black with a green to straw-colored midrib. Growing with spreading stems 30 to 50 centimeters tall and 2 to 4 millimeters in diameter, it develops from a long rhizome with distinctively three-angled stems. Its leaves are relatively narrow, measuring 3 to 7 millimeters wide, and lack a ligule. The fruit is small, measuring 0.9 to 1.3 millimeters long and typically three-angled.

Habitat: Meadows, marshes, lake shores, streambanks

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 700-2600 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaR, MP

California counties: Nevada, Fresno, Mariposa, Alpine, Calaveras, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Butte, Mendocino, Shasta, Tehama, Madera, Placer, Amador, Lassen, Del Norte, Modoc

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