Schoenus maschalinus
Common names
dwarf bog rush
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Sedges
Detailed description
Small, flaccid, tufted or widely spreading green and leafy sedge. Culms 0.3–1.0 m long, 0.5 mm diameter, bright green, usually trailing and rooting at nodes, branched toward apices. Leaves numerous, 10–35 × 0.5–1.0 mm, almost flat, alternate, spreading, obtuse, margins usually finely toothed towards leaf apex; sheath enclosing ⅓ of internode, membranous, often red-purple. Spikelets 1–3 in the axils of leaves, 2–3 mm long, 1–2-flowered, light brown or reddish purple, sessile or on short, scabrid stalks. Glumes 5, ovate-lanceolate, more or less obtuse, 2 lowest smaller, empty, membranous, mucronate 1–2 upper glumes fertile, margins hyaline, median nerve pale green. Hypogynous bristles mostly 6, white or yellow-brown, thread-like, slightly greater than or occasionally less than nut, persistent. Stamens 3. Style branches 3. Nut 1 × c. 1 mm, white, elliptic-ovoid, angles green and thickened, apex acute, occasionally with a small trigonous, persistent, style-base.
Similar taxa
Schoenus fluitans Hook.f. is very closely related to S. maschalinus, and terrestrial plants of S. fluitans or those left stranded by receding waters in particular have some resemblance to it. From S. fluitans, S. maschalinus is distinguished by its much smaller, more widely creeping plant (up to 1 m diameter) and wide range of habitat preferences. Schoenus maschalinus is invariably bright green (never red), is much a more slender, wispy plant, has 6 rather than no hypogynous bristles, and white rather than a black or brown mottled black nut. Both species share the same chromosome number (2n = 10), and nrDNA ITS sequences place them as sister species.
Distribution
Indigenous. North, South, Stewart and Chatham Islands. Also in Australia, New Guinea as far north as the Philippines.
Habitat
Coastal to alpine (up to 1400 m a.s.l.). In damp, poorly drained soils in a wide range of habitats from dense forest to river margins, lake sides to alpine seepages and turfs.
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.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- 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
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Cyperaceae
Synonyms
Chaetospora axillaris R.Br.; Schoenus axillaris (R.Br.) Poir.; Scirpus foliatus Hook.f.; Schoenus subaxillaris Kük.; Schoenus foliatus (Hook.f.) Blake; Schoenus foliatus (Hook.f.) Kük.
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
Throughout the year
Fruiting
Throughout the year
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed, rooted pieces and by the division of whole plants. An attractive ground cover for a damp site. Will grow in full sun or heavy shade. Once established can tolerate mowing
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]
FACW: Facultative Wetland
Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
Etymology
schoenus: Rush
maschalinus: With flowers in the leaf axils
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.
SCHMAS
Chromosome number
2n = 10
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Moore LB, Edgar E. 1970. Flora of New Zealand, Volume II. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Monocotyledones except Gramineae. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 354 p.
Attribution
Description adapted from Moore and Edgar (1970).
Some of this factsheet information is derived from Flora of New Zealand Online and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.