categoryZGrasses Grasses List 

SEA CLUB-RUSH

Bolboschoenus maritimus

Sedge Club- & Spike-Rush Family [Cyperaceae]

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category
category8Grasses
status
statusZnative
flower
flower8brown
inner
inner8cream
petals
petalsZ0
stem
stem8triangular

27th July 2012, Marshside, Sefton Coast, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Grows en-masse in brackish water near the sea, here getting a mixture of sea-water and rain-water from the sea-wall.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Sefton Coast, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Grows up to 1.2m high.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Sefton Coast, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Has brown flowers 9/10ths of the way from the ground.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Sefton Coast, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The flowers nestle between two short leaf-like bracts set roughly at 90°.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Sefton Coast, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
One leaf-like bract is a lot shorter than the second, and resemble outstretched thumb and foregingers on the end of a long single straingth stalk. The flowers grow in the junction of bracts and on shorter stalks from the junction.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Sefton Coast, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
All bracts and stems are triangular in cross-section.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Sefton Coast, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The flowers are long and slightly tapering cylinders, coloured brown with reddish-brown glumes, a bit like coconut matting. There are two paperish bracts semi-wrapping around the leaf-like bracts at the junction.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Sefton Coast, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The flowers have cream-coloured twisted awns on the ends of white 'threads'.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Sefton Coast, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The awns are flat and spiral like barley-sugar rock. With insect.


10th June 2008, Madina West Bank, IoW. Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone
This is what it looks like when all the flowers try to escape at once.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Sefton Coast, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The papery bracts around the junction of the leaf-like bracts. All stems have slightly concave edges and are triangular in cross-section.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Sefton Coast, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The stems are slightly rough, especially along the 3 corner-edges. This specimen has been purposely split open lengthways to show the white pith within.


Some similarities to :

  • Common Club-rush (Schoenoplectus lacustris) but that is 3m tall and has leafless stems (all other leaves submerged) and many more flowers (on several branched stems).
  • Triangular Club-rush (Schoenoplectus triqueter) which also has a triangular stem but flowers in smaller clusters.
  • Grey Club-rush (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani) which has greyish stems plus two styles.
But all of these belong to the differing genus, Schoenoplectus.

No relation to : Clubmosses such as Fir Clubmoss (Huperzia selago) or Stag's-horn Clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum) or [plants with similar names].


  Bolboschoenus maritimus  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Cyperaceae  

Distribution
 family8Sedge Club- & Spike-Rush family8Cyperaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Bolboschoenus
Bolboschoenus
(Sea Club-Rush)

SEA CLUB-RUSH

Bolboschoenus maritimus

Sedge Club- & Spike-Rush Family [Cyperaceae]