Threesquare Bulrush (MatBio: GRASSES, SEDGES & RUSHES - Matanzas Biodiversity)

Threesquare Bulrush

Schoenoplectus pungens

Summary ⁵

Schoenoplectus pungens (syn. Scirpus pungens) is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common name Common Three-Square.

Description ⁶

General: Sedge Family (Cyperaceae). This herbaceous, rhizomatous perennial has upright, triangular, and rarely concave stems. The stems are erect to strongly arched and 1.5-10 dm in height and 2-6 mm wide in the middle. The narrow (2-4 mm) wide, grasslike, basal leaves are all in the lower third of the stem. Leaves are flat to slightly rounded near the base, and become more cylindric toward the tip. The flowers are lateral clusters of 1-7 sessile spikelets subtended by an involucral bract that appears to be a continuation of the stem. The scales are yellowish to reddish brown. Fruits are small, brown, lenticular achenes. The systematics on this species or subspecies are very much in dispute in the Pacific Northwest (Galen Smith pers. comm. 1999).