Marsh Bulrush
Scirpus
cyperinus
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Marsh Bulrush,
sometimes called "Woolgrass," is not really a
grass,
even though it looks like one.
Marsh Bulrush is
closely related to sedges, plants known for growing
in wet areas such as marshes, lake shores, ponds,
wet woods, and ditches.
Marsh Bulrush
grows up to six feet tall. It has leaf blades up to
three feet long and nearly an inch wide. Leaf
blades have rough edges and fold over at the
tip.
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Hugh D.
Wilson
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Paul Jackson
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Marsh Bulrushes are most
easily recognized by their flowers and fruits. The flowers
are large, reddish-brown and shaggy. They droop in
clusters,
and each cluster is made of many small spikelets about 1/4
inch long.
Marsh Bulrush blooms from
June to September.
Later, fruits replace the
flowers and contain seeds which give it the "wooly"
look.
Seeds are eaten by many
waterfowl (ducks, swans, and geese), as well as
muskrats.
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Hugh D. Wilson
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Hugh D. Wilson
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Marsh Bulrush is a
perennial,
which means it lives more than one year. Each year, the
stems and leaves above ground die in the winter, but the
stems underground survive. These stems, called
rhizomes,
also spread. In the Spring, the rhizomes will send up new
leaves and stems.
Marsh Bulrushes are often
found growing with cattails, sedges, reeds, and
Switchgrass.
Many animals use
bulrushes as shelter. Ducks and geese build nests in them.
Frogs and salamanders attach their eggs to stems underwater.
Fish, including Bluegill and Largemouth Bass,
spawn
(breed) among them.
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