Scirpus microcarpus

Mountain bog bulrush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Mountain bog bulrush is a California native perennial found in marshes, wet meadows, streambanks, and pond margins throughout California at elevations below 3,000 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces green to nearly black flower spikelets in tight head-like clusters 2 to 8 millimeters long. Growing 60 to 200 centimeters tall with a long spreading rhizome, it develops distinctive three-angled stems 2 to 5 millimeters thick. Its leaves have broad blades 5 to 15 millimeters wide with a visible ligule, and feature fine, reflexed bristles surrounding its small fruit. The compact clusters of spikelets and three-angled stem shape make this bulrush a distinctive wetland species.

Habitat: Marshes, wet meadows, streambanks, pond margins, sometimes weedy

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: < 3000 m

Bioregions: CA

California counties: Humboldt, San Bernardino, Inyo, Riverside, Los Angeles, Calaveras, Orange, Tulare, Mono, Alameda, El Dorado, Fresno, Kern, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Monterey, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Ventura, Amador, Alpine, Sierra, Contra Costa, Glenn, Butte, Napa, Santa Barbara, Del Norte, San Joaquin, Yuba, San Benito, Yolo

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