Scirpus ancistrochaetus
Encyclopedia
Scirpus ancistrochaetus is a rare species of flowering plant in the sedge family
known by the common name northeastern bulrush. It is native to the northeastern United States from New Hampshire
south to Virginia
. It used to be found in Quebec
but it is now thought to be extirpated
there. It was also believed extirpated from the state of New York
, but at least one population has been rediscovered in Steuben County
in 2010. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its wetland
habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species
.
This bulrush produces clumps of upright or leaning stems from a fibrous rhizome
. The stems sometimes have axillary bulb
lets. The leaves are up to 68 cm long and are only about 1 cm wide. The inflorescence
s occur at the tips of the stems and sometimes from the uppermost leaf axil on the side of each stem. Each is made up of clusters of spikelets that are oval in shape and up to 0.5 cm long. They are covered in brown scales with green midribs. The flowers emerge from beneath the scales and the plant can be identified by the straight or curving toothed spines on the developing fruit. Germination
occurs around March and seedling
s grow from the rhizomes in May. Flowering occurs in June and July and the fruits develop in July through September. This bulrush sometimes hybridizes with Scirpus hattorianus.
This plant grows in a number of types of wetlands, especially those with variable water depths. These include beaver ponds that are shallow or deep, depending on the activity of beavers, sandy depressions and sinkhole
s that sometimes fill with groundwater
, and sinkhole ponds in solid sandstone
bedrock. The latter is the most common type of habitat in the southern portion of its range. Sinkhole ponds usually fill with water in the spring and dry out during the summer, but their hydrology
is variable. The bulrush grows at the water's edge, sometimes in a small amount of standing water, but it can be found away from the water or in deeper water up to about a depth of 90 cm. It has been observed experimentally that changes in water level affect the growth of the plant. The most common plant associates are threeway sedge (Dulichium arundinaceum), woolgrass
(Scirpus cyperinus sens. lat.), rattlesnake mannagrass (Glyceria canadensis), and Virginia marsh St. Johns wort (Triadenum virginicum). Other plants in the habitat include American winterberry (Ilex verticillata), blue skullcap
(Scutellaria lateriflora), dogbane
(Apocynum sp.), swamp rose
(Rosa palustris), lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), red maple (Acer rubrum), black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), white oak (Quercus alba), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), yellow water lily
(Nuphar advena), buttonwillow
(Cephalanthus occidentalis), duckweed
(Lemna minor), silvery sedge
(Carex canescens), blister sedge
(Carex vesicaria), tussock sedge
(Carex stricta), squarestem spikerush
(Eleocharis quadrangulata), cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum), rice cutgrass
(Leersia oryzoides), water knotweed
(Persicaria amphibia), and water parsnip
(Sium suave).
The bulrush is threatened by the destruction and degradation of its habitat. This includes outright destruction as the land is cleared for development. It also includes damage to the habitat from road construction and maintenance, fire suppression activities, maintenance of power lines and other utilities, hydrocarbon development, and all-terrain vehicle use. The plant is affected by changes in the hydrology of its wetland habitat, including agricultural runoff and other surface water runoff contamination and dredging. Natural threats include beaver activity at beaver pond populations and trampling and browsing by larger animals such as deer.
As of 2007 there were about 113 known populations of this species, about half of them in decline.
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...
known by the common name northeastern bulrush. It is native to the northeastern United States from New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
south to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. It used to be found in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
but it is now thought to be extirpated
Local extinction
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, is the condition of a species which ceases to exist in the chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere...
there. It was also believed extirpated from the state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, but at least one population has been rediscovered in Steuben County
Steuben County, New York
Steuben County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 98,990. Its name is in honor of Baron von Steuben, a German general who fought on the American side in the American Revolutionary War, though it is not pronounced the same...
in 2010. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
.
This bulrush produces clumps of upright or leaning stems from a fibrous 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 stems sometimes have axillary bulb
Bulb
A bulb is a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases. The leaves often function as food storage organs during dormancy.A bulb's leaf bases, known as scales, generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions. At the center of the bulb is...
lets. The leaves are up to 68 cm long and are only about 1 cm wide. 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...
s occur at the tips of the stems and sometimes from the uppermost leaf axil on the side of each stem. Each is made up of clusters of spikelets that are oval in shape and up to 0.5 cm long. They are covered in brown scales with green midribs. The flowers emerge from beneath the scales and the plant can be identified by the straight or curving toothed spines on the developing fruit. Germination
Germination
Germination is the process in which a plant or fungus emerges from a seed or spore, respectively, and begins growth. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. However the growth of a sporeling from a spore, for example the...
occurs around March and seedling
Seedling
thumb|Monocot and dicot seedlingsA seedling is a young plant sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle , the hypocotyl , and the cotyledons...
s grow from the rhizomes in May. Flowering occurs in June and July and the fruits develop in July through September. This bulrush sometimes hybridizes with Scirpus hattorianus.
This plant grows in a number of types of wetlands, especially those with variable water depths. These include beaver ponds that are shallow or deep, depending on the activity of beavers, sandy depressions and sinkhole
Sinkhole
A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...
s that sometimes fill with groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
, and sinkhole ponds in solid sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
bedrock. The latter is the most common type of habitat in the southern portion of its range. Sinkhole ponds usually fill with water in the spring and dry out during the summer, but their hydrology
Hydrology
Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability...
is variable. The bulrush grows at the water's edge, sometimes in a small amount of standing water, but it can be found away from the water or in deeper water up to about a depth of 90 cm. It has been observed experimentally that changes in water level affect the growth of the plant. The most common plant associates are threeway sedge (Dulichium arundinaceum), woolgrass
Scirpus cyperinus
Scirpus cyperinus, commonly known as woolgrass, is a herbaceous emergent that is native to the eastern United States and eastern Canada....
(Scirpus cyperinus sens. lat.), rattlesnake mannagrass (Glyceria canadensis), and Virginia marsh St. Johns wort (Triadenum virginicum). Other plants in the habitat include American winterberry (Ilex verticillata), blue skullcap
Scutellaria lateriflora
Scutellaria lateriflora, also known as Blue Skullcap, Hoodwort, Virginian Skullcap, Mad-dog Skullcap is a hardy perennial herb native to North America. It is a member of the mint family. It has an upright habit, growing 60 to 80 centimeters in maximum height. It is a wetland-loving species and...
(Scutellaria lateriflora), dogbane
Apocynum
Apocynum, commonly known as Dogbane and Indian Hemp, is a genus of the plant family of the Apocynaceae with seven species. From the Greek: apo, away; cyno, dog, attributed to its toxicity...
(Apocynum sp.), swamp rose
Rosa palustris
Rosa palustris is a shrub in the rose family native to much of eastern North America. It can be found from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the north, south to Florida and west to Arkansas and Ontario.-Description:...
(Rosa palustris), lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), red maple (Acer rubrum), black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), white oak (Quercus alba), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), yellow water lily
Nuphar advena
Nuphar advena is a species of Nuphar native throughout the eastern United States, and just into the extreme south of Canada. It is similar to the Eurasian species N...
(Nuphar advena), buttonwillow
Cephalanthus occidentalis
Cephalanthus occidentalis is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, that is native to eastern and southern North America. Common names include Buttonbush, Common Buttonbush, Button-willow and Honey-bells....
(Cephalanthus occidentalis), duckweed
Lemna minor
Lemna minor is a species of Lemna with a subcosmopolitan distribution, native throughout most of Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, occurring everywhere that freshwater ponds and slow-moving streams occur, except for arctic and subarctic climates...
(Lemna minor), silvery sedge
Carex canescens
Carex canescens L. is a perennial species of plants in the family Cyperaceae with pluriregional distribution growing in damp forests and wetlands.-External links:*...
(Carex canescens), blister sedge
Carex vesicaria
Carex vesicaria is an essentially Holarctic species of sedge known by the common name Blister Sedge. The dried fibers, sometimes used as thermal insulation in polar regions, are known as sennegrass, saennegrass or similar, from the plant's Bokmål name Sennegras.-Distribution:This sedge is native to...
(Carex vesicaria), tussock sedge
Carex stricta
Carex stricta is a species of sedge known by the common name Tussock Sedge.-External links:*...
(Carex stricta), squarestem spikerush
Eleocharis quadrangulata
Eleocharis quadrangulata is a species of spikesedge known by the common names squarestem spikerush and four-angled spikerush. It is native to much of North America from eastern Canada to southern Mexico, where it grows in and around freshwater in lakes and other water bodies. It is a rhizomatous...
(Eleocharis quadrangulata), cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum), rice cutgrass
Leersia oryzoides
Leersia oryzoides is a species of grass known by the common name rice cutgrass. It is a widespread grass native to Europe, Asia, and North America and present in many other regions, such as Australia, as an introduced species. This is a rhizomatous perennial grass growing to a maximum height...
(Leersia oryzoides), water knotweed
Persicaria amphibia
Persicaria amphibia is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by several common names, including water knotweed, water smartweed, and amphibious bistort. It is native to much of North America and Eurasia, but it is known on most continents as an introduced species and sometimes...
(Persicaria amphibia), and water parsnip
Sium suave
Sium suave , the Water Parsnip, is a herb belonging to the parsnip family and comes from Africa and some parts of the Northern Hemisphere.- Appearance :...
(Sium suave).
The bulrush is threatened by the destruction and degradation of its habitat. This includes outright destruction as the land is cleared for development. It also includes damage to the habitat from road construction and maintenance, fire suppression activities, maintenance of power lines and other utilities, hydrocarbon development, and all-terrain vehicle use. The plant is affected by changes in the hydrology of its wetland habitat, including agricultural runoff and other surface water runoff contamination and dredging. Natural threats include beaver activity at beaver pond populations and trampling and browsing by larger animals such as deer.
As of 2007 there were about 113 known populations of this species, about half of them in decline.