Login
Login

Scirpus

{{For|other species called bulrush|Bulrush}}{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Scirpus atrovirens NRCS-3.jpg

|image_caption = Scirpus atrovirens

|taxon = Scirpus

|authority = L.

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision = About 120; see text

|synonyms_ref =

|synonyms =

  • Chamaeschoenus Ehrh.
  • Leiophyllum Ehrh.
  • Dichismus Raf.
  • Diplarinus Raf.
  • Seidlia Opiz
  • Actaeogeton Steud.
  • Blepharolepis Nees
  • Nemocharis Beurl.
  • Taphrogiton Montandon
  • Maximoviczia A.P.Khokhr.
  • Maximowicziella A.P.Khokhr.

}}

Scirpus is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush. They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations.

Description

Scirpus are rhizomatous perennial herbs, with 3-angled stems and flat grass-like leaves. The flowers are in clusters of small spikelets, often brown or greenish brown.{{cite book|last=Stace|first=C. A.|author-link = Stace, C. A.|year=2019|title=New Flora of the British Isles|edition=Fourth|publisher=C & M Floristics|location=Middlewood Green, Suffolk, U.K.| isbn=978-1-5272-2630-2}}{{rp|992}} Some species (e.g. S. lacustris) can reach a height of {{Convert|3|m|abbr=off|frac=2}}, while S. sylvaticus is about {{Convert|1.2|m|ft|abbr=on|frac=2}} and others, such as S. supinus, are much smaller, only reaching {{Convert|20–30|cm|frac=2}} tall.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of the genus is complex, and under review by botanists. Recent studies by taxonomists of the Cyperaceae have resulted in the creation of several new genera, including the genera Schoenoplectus and Bolboschoenus; others (including Blysmus, Isolepis, Nomochloa, and Scirpoides) have also been used. At one point this genus held almost 300 species, but many of the species once assigned to it have now been reassigned, and it now holds an estimated 120 species.

= Selected species =

:(This list is incomplete, and may include some species now assigned to other genera.)

;Selected species in a broader view of the genus

= Fossil record =

Several hundred fossil fruits of Scirpus ragozinii have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark.Angiosperm Fruits and Seeds from the Middle Miocene of Jutland (Denmark) by Else Marie Friis, The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters 24:3, 1985 Thirty-five fossil fruits of the extant Scirpus sylvaticus have been extracted from borehole samples of the Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians, Poland.Łańcucka-Środoniowa M.: Macroscopic plant remains from the freshwater Miocene of the Nowy Sącz Basin (West Carpathians, Poland) [Szczątki makroskopowe roślin z miocenu słodkowodnego Kotliny Sądeckiej (Karpaty Zachodnie, Polska)]. Acta Palaeobotanica 1979 20 (1): 3-117.

Distribution and habitat

The genus has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution, found on every continent except Africa and Antarctica.{{cite web |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=263650 |title=Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Kew |access-date=9 December 2019 }}

Many species are common in wetlands and can produce dense stands of vegetation, along rivers,{{cite journal |author=Auclair, A. N. D. |author2=Bouchard, A. |author3=Pajaczkowski, J. |date=1976 |title=Plant standing crop and productivity relations in a Scirpus–Equisetum wetland |journal=Ecology |volume=57 |issue=5 |pages=941–52 |doi=10.2307/1941059 |jstor=1941059|bibcode=1976Ecol...57..941A }}{{cite journal |author=Day, R. T. |author2=Keddy, P. A. |author3=McNeill, J. |author4=Carleton, T. |date=1988 |title=Fertility and disturbance gradients: a summary model for riverine marsh vegetation |journal=Ecology |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=1044–54 |doi=10.2307/1941260 |jstor=1941260|bibcode=1988Ecol...69.1044D }} in coastal deltas{{cite journal |author=Gough, L. G. |author2=Grace, J. B. |author3=Taylor, K. L. |date=1994 |title=The relationship between species richness and community biomass: the importance of environmental variables |journal=Oikos |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=271–9 |doi=10.2307/3545638 |jstor=3545638|bibcode=1994Oikos..70..271G }} and in ponds and potholes.{{cite book |author=van der Valk, A. G. |title=Northern Prairie Wetlands |date=1989 |publisher=Iowa State University Press |location=Ames, IA}} Although flooding is the most important factor affecting its distribution, drought, ice scour, grazing, fire and salinity also affect its abundance.{{cite book |author=Keddy, P.A. |title=Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |edition=2 |location=Cambridge, UK}} It can survive unfavourable conditions like prolonged flooding, or drought, as buried seeds.{{cite journal |author1=van der Valk, A. G. |author2=Davis, C. B. |date=1976 |title=The seed banks of prairie glacial marshes |journal=Canadian Journal of Botany |volume=54 |issue=15 |pages=1832–8 |doi=10.1139/b76-197|bibcode=1976CaJB...54.1832V }}

Ecology

Scirpus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Chedra microstigma{{cite journal|last=Busck |first=August |author-link=August Busck |title=New Microlepidoptera from Hawaii |journal=Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus |date=1914 |volume=2 |issue=7 |page=106 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9141297}}{{cite book |last=Zimmerman |first=Elwood C. |author-link=Elwood Zimmerman |date=1978 |title=Insects of Hawaii |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/7338/3/IOH-V09%20Microlepidoptera%203of4.pdf |volume=9 Microlepidoptera |location=Honolulu |publisher=The University Press of Hawaii |pages=1003–1015}} and Scirpophaga nivella.{{cite journal |last=Common |first=I. F. B. |author-link=:it:Ian Francis Bell Common |date=1960 |title=A revision of the Australian Stem Borers hitherto referred to Schoenobius and Scirpophaga (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae, Schoenobiinae) |url=http://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/ZO9600307 |journal=Australian Journal of Zoology |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=307–347 |doi=10.1071/ZO9600307 |access-date=9 December 2019|url-access=subscription }} They provide habitat for other wildlife.

Scirpus plants play a vital role in wetland ecosystems by stabilizing soil and reducing erosion. Their dense root systems help filter water and improve its quality.

Uses

Scirpus species are often planted to inhibit soil erosion. They are also used in some herbal remedies; the plant's rhizomes are collected in the autumn and winter and dried in the sun before use.

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/Taxonomicon/TaxonTree.aspx?id=11039 Genus Scirpus]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20041214014037/http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/speciesIndex/Genus_Scirpus_113757_1.htm Genus Scirpus]
  • [http://www.puc.edu/Faculty/Gilbert_Muth/Scirpus.htm Scirpus (Cyperaceae)]
  • [http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben218.html "What Is 'Schoenoplectus americanus'?" and "Should We Reject The Name 'Scirpus americanus'?"]
  • [http://www.northernbushcraft.com/plants/bulrush/notes.htm Edibility of Scirpus]: Edible parts and identification of Scirpus

Sources

{{Commons}}

  • Muntz, Philip A. A California Flora. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1973, copyright 1959
  • Muntz, Philip A. A California Flora: Supplement. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1976 (Scirpus lacutris, validus, glaucus, p. 183))

{{Expand section|date=May 2008}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q159220}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cyperaceae genera