Page authors: Don Knoke, David Giblin
Isolepis cernua
low club-rush
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in and near coastal marine waters; Alaska to northern Mexico; irregularly cosmopolitan.

Habitat: Fresh or brackish marshes, and beaches, shores, and cliŽs near coast.

Flowers: June-August

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Annual

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Wind

Description:
General:

Tufted annual with numerous slender stems 3-20 cm. tall.

Leaves:

Leaves few, near the base, variable, sometimes with normal sheath and elongate, slender blade, sometimes the lower leaves reduced to bracts and the upper one with a sheath and very short blade.

Flowers:

Inflorescence a solitary spikelet 2-5.5 mm. long with several perfect flowers, sub-terminal, at an angle to the culm, with a single involucral bract up to 1 cm. long; flowers subtended by scales 1.5-2 mm. long, often purplish, with parallel nerves, the mid-rib greenish or pale; perianth bristles none; stamens 3; style trifid.

Fruits:

Achenes triangular, about 1 mm. long.

Accepted Name:
Isolepis cernua (Vahl) Roem. & Schult.
Publication: Syst. Veg. 2: 106. 1817.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Isolepis cernua (Vahl) Roem. & Schult. var. cernua
Scirpus cernuus Vahl [HC]
Scirpus cernuus Vahl ssp. californicus (Torr.) Thorne
Scirpus cernuus Vahl var. californicus (Torr.) Beetle
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Isolepis cernua in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Isolepis cernua checklist entry

OregonFlora: Isolepis cernua information

E-Flora BC: Isolepis cernua atlas page

CalPhotos: Isolepis cernua photos

15 photographs:
Group by