Amphiscirpus
Encyclopedia
Amphiscirpus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the sedge family
containing the single species Amphiscirpus nevadensis, which is known by the common name Nevada bulrush. This plant was formerly included in genus Scirpus
. It is native to western North America, including the western Canadian provinces and the northwestern United States, as well as southern South America. It grows in wet and seasonally wet habitat, often on saline and alkaline soils
. It is a perennial herb growing from a small, hard rhizome
. The erect stems are stiff, ridged, and cylindrical, not three-angled. It lacks aerenchyma
, a trait which makes it different from many of its relatives. The stems are sheathed by tough long leaves. The inflorescence
is a headlike cluster of a few cone-shaped spikelets accompanied by a long, stiff bract
which looks like an extension of the stem.
Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
containing the single species Amphiscirpus nevadensis, which is known by the common name Nevada bulrush. This plant was formerly included in genus Scirpus
Scirpus
The plant genus Scirpus consists of a large number of aquatic, grass-like species in the family Cyperaceae , many with the common names club-rush or bulrush . Other common names are deergrass or grassweed.The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, and grows in wetlands and moist soil...
. It is native to western North America, including the western Canadian provinces and the northwestern United States, as well as southern South America. It grows in wet and seasonally wet habitat, often on saline and alkaline soils
Alkali soils
Alkali, or alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH , a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico-chemical properties mainly to the dominating presence of sodium carbonate...
. It is a perennial herb growing from a small, hard rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
. The erect stems are stiff, ridged, and cylindrical, not three-angled. It lacks aerenchyma
Aerenchyma
Aerenchyma is an air channel in the roots of some plants, which allows exchange of gases between the shoot and the root. The channel of large air-filled cavities provides a low-resistance internal pathway for the exchange of gases such as oxygen and ethylene between the plant above the water and...
, a trait which makes it different from many of its relatives. The stems are sheathed by tough long leaves. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a headlike cluster of a few cone-shaped spikelets accompanied by a long, stiff bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
which looks like an extension of the stem.