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  4. Bolboschoenus fluviatilis

Bolboschoenus fluviatilis

Eastern Wairarapa. Mar 2011.<br>Photographer: Patrick Enright, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Whangapoua, Coromandel. April.<br>Photographer: John Smith-Dodsworth, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Whangapoua, Coromandel. April.<br>Photographer: John Smith-Dodsworth, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Bolboschoenus fluviatilis.<br>Photographer: Wayne Bennett, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Bolboschoenus fluviatilis.<br>Photographer: Wayne Bennett, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Bolboschoenus fluviatilis.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Ventral (left) and dorsal (right) view of nuts with retrorsely scabrid bristles..<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 29/05/2010, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
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Common names

marsh clubrush, kukuraho, purua grass

Biostatus

Native

Category

Vascular

Structural class

Sedges

Detailed description

Summer-green, bulbous perennial forming mostly densely clumped patches. Rhizome 7–9 mm diameter, woody, long-creeping, very dark brown, apices terminated by globose, ligneous tubers. Culms 1.5–2.5 m tall, 6–15 mm diameter, triquetrous, striated, smooth except just below inflorescence where scabrid on angles; basal sheaths loose, membranous, septate, brown to fawn, up to 150 mm long. Leaves numerous, ≤ or > culms, 500 × 7–11 mm, double-folded but flattened, grass-like, tapering, coriaceous, margins and midrib scabrid towards apices; sheaths long, closed, coriaceous. Inflorescence a terminal, compound, irregular umbel; rays 6–9, unequal, 20–100 mm long, bearing clusters of 1–6 spikelets, a sessile glomerule of spikelets at the base of the rays; involucral subtending bracts similar to leaves, > inflorescence, unequal, 150–250 × 3–6 mm, as many as, or 1–2 fewer than rays. Spikelets 10–25 mm long, ovoid, or cylindric, dull red-brown. Glumes membranous, pubescent, apices cleft or lacerate, with a scabrid, recurved awn. Hypogynous bristles 6, more or less equal to nut in length, persistent, red-brown, retrorsely scabrid. Stamens 3. Style-branches 3. Nut 3.0–4.0 × 1.5–2.0 mm, equilaterally 3-angled with acute dorsal angle, obovate, apiculate, pale cream, occasionally black and glossy.

Similar taxa

Bolboschoenus fluviatilis is the tallest of the three New Zealand species, and the one most likely to be found in freshwater systems. It differs from B. caldwellii (Cook.) Soják and B. medianus (Cook) Soják by the taller stature, conspicuously umbellate inflorescence with long, through irregular, rays, and distinctly trigonous nuts. B. fluviatilis has 3 rather than the 2 or 2–3 style branches typical of the other two species.

Distribution

Indigenous.

Habitat

Coastal to lowland in saltmarshes and other poorly drained saline areas, also found along some freshwater rivers and lakes. Sometimes invades pasture abutting tidal streams and estuaries.

Current conservation status

The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.

  • Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

2023 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO

Jump to previous conservation statuses

Detailed taxonomy

Family

Cyperaceae

Authority

Bolboschoenus fluviatilis (Torr.) Soják

Synonyms

Scirpus fluviatilis (Torr.) Gray; Scirpus maritimus var. fluviatilis Torr.; Scirpus perviridis Cook

Endemic taxon

No

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Ecology

Flowering

October–January

Fruiting

December–May

Life cycle and dispersal

Bristly nuts are dispersed by water and possibly wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).

Propagation technique

Easily grown from fresh seed and rooted pieces. Will grow in almost any soil but prefers a sunny, damp soil. Ideal as a pond plant or for planting along tidal streams.

Wetland plant indicator status rating

Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]

OBL: Obligate Wetland

Almost always is a hydrophyte, rarely in uplands (non-wetlands).

Other information

Cultural Use/Importance

Some inland occurrences in the Hamilton Basin (Waikato) peat lakes suggest that the species was planted deliberately for food by Māori.

Etymology

bolboschoenus: From Greek: bolbos (swelling or bulb) and schoinos (rush, reed), from the supposed difference from the genus Schoenus in having bulbous tubers

fluviatilis: From the Latin fluvius ‘river’, meaning growing near rivers

NVS code

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

BOLFLU

Chromosome number

2n = c.110

Previous conservation statuses

The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.

  • Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO

2012 | Not Threatened

2009 | Not Threatened

2004 | Not Threatened

Jump to current conservation status

Referencing and citations

References and further reading

Thorsen MJ, Dickinson KJM, Seddon PJ. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285–309.

Attribution

Description adapted from: Moore, L.B.; Edgar, E. 1970: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. II. Government Printer, Wellington.

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