''Amphiscirpus'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the sedge family containing the single species ''Amphiscirpus nevadensis'', which is known by the common name Nevada bulrush. This plant was formerly included in genus ''

Scirpus ''Scirpus'' is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush. They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations. Description ''Scirpus'' are rhizomatous perennial herbs ...

''.Goetghebeur, P. and D. A. Simpson. (1991). Critical notes on ''Actinoscirpus'', ''Bolboschoenus'', ''Isolepis'', ''Phylloscirpus'' and ''Amphiscirpus'' (Cyperaceae). ''Kew Bulletin'' 46:1 169-78. It is native to western North America, including the western Canadian provinces and the northwestern United States, as well as southern South America. It grows in wet and seasonally wet habitat, often on

saline Saline may refer to: Salt-related * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially American) for a salt works or saltern Places United States ...

and

alkaline soils Alkali, or alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH (greater than 8.5), a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico ...

. It is a perennial herb growing from a small, hard

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

. The erect stems are stiff, ridged, and cylindrical, not three-angled. It lacks

aerenchyma Aerenchyma or aeriferous parenchyma or lacunae, is a modification of the parenchyma to form a spongy tissue that creates spaces or air channels in the leaves, stems and roots of some plants, which allows exchange of gases between the shoot and ...

, a trait which makes it different from many of its relatives. The stems are sheathed by tough long leaves. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a headlike cluster of a few cone-shaped spikelets accompanied by a long, stiff

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

which looks like an extension of the stem.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileFlora of North AmericaPhoto gallery
Cyperaceae Monotypic Cyperaceae genera Flora of the United States Taxa named by Sereno Watson {{Cyperaceae-stub