Black bulrush
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Scirpus atrocinctus Fernald
Common name(s): black bulrush, blackgirdle bulrush, black-girdled woolgrass, black-girdled woolsedge
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- after burning, in prune blueberry field
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- regeneration after burning
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- early inflorescence, early July
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- emerging inflorescence
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- late July, note black “girdle”
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- late July in prune field
Description:
– perennial
– base of inflorescence is black “girdled”
-branching rhizomes
-4-7 leaves per culm
-sheaths are brown
-blades are 25–63 cm × 3–6 mm
-main branches are smooth proximally
-ovoid or ellipsoid spikelets
-variable species with many hybrids
-Scirpus atrocinctus differs from S. pedicellatus by having more intense pigmentation in its inflorescence
– may be confused with S. cyperinus (woolgrass) or S. pedicellatus (stalked bulrush); see left sidebar of Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-wet meadows
-swamps
-stream banks
-acidic soils
Sources:
MICHIGAN FLORA ONLINE. A. A. Reznicek, E. G. Voss, & B. S. Walters. February 2011. University of Michigan. Web. January 20, 2021. https://michiganflora.net/species.aspx?id=1151.
JSTOR. “ Filter Search by Search Advanced Search Scirpus Atrocinctus Fernald [Family CYPERACEAE].” Global Plants , 2021, plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.flora.fna023000018.