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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE SEDGE FAMILY | |||||||||
| The sedge family is widespread around
the world, but these plants are usually found in damp habitats in subarctic
to temperate regions. The sedge family is very large, with approximately
5,315 species! There is a lot of variability within the family, but in general,
they are perennial herbs. The stems are solid and are frequently three sided.
The leaves are in three vertical rows. The basal sheath of the leaves is
closed. The leaves are linear and have the parallel venation typical of
the monocots. The inflorescences vary greatly among genera. In general,
flowers are in spikes or spikelets which are arranged into spikes, racemes,
panicles and umbrella-like clusters. In each spike there are bracts, usually
at least one per flower. The flowers are reduced, meaning that they do not
have obvious sepals and petals. The sepals and petals, if present, are often
in the form of bristles, scales or hairs. There are three stamens and two
or three carpels. The flowers may have both male and female parts or only
one of the two. In one of the largest genera, Carex, the ovary is enclosed
in a sac-like bract called the perigynium. The fruits are single-seeded,
lens-shaped or triangular structures called achenes. The sedges are an ecologically important family in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan has 149 species belonging to the Cyperaceae. | |||||||||
| RED BULRUSH | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Blysmus rufus | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Red bulrush grows 10 to 40 cm tall from a creeping, branched rhizome. The rhizome has reddish-brown scales and fibrous roots. This perennial plant is densely tufted and often grows in straight lines. The stem is round and about 2 mm wide. The leaves are all flat and basal and are almost as tall as the stem. The spike is solitary at the top of the plant and contains two to 10 flowers arranged in two vertical rows. The inflorescence may have one to several leaf-like bracts. The sepals and petals are absent or are reduced to bristles. The bristles are very short and barbed. Each flower has three stamens and a two-lobed stigma. The fruit is an achene. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Red bulrush is found in saline marshes and bogs. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This species grows in central Saskatchewan in the Moist Mixed Grassland and Mid-Boreal Lowland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Red bulrush is threatened because it is rare or uncommon in Saskatchewan. This species occurs in a relatively wide range in central Saskatchewan, but population sizes are variable. No immediate threats to this species are known at the present time. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY RED BULRUSH | |||||||||
| * Are the leaves linear, basal, and almost as tall
as the stem? * Are the flowers arranged in two vertical rows within the spike? * Are the scales within the spikes dark brown? * Did you find it in central Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found red bulrush! | |||||||||
