This week for Flora and Fauna Friday we have the saline, sea breeze swaying Saltmarsh Bulrush (Bolboschoenus robustus).
Saltmarsh Bulrush, also called Seacoast Clubrush, is a species of sedge found up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. It used to belong to the genus Schoenoplectus but was recently split off into Bolboschoenus and, between these two genera, there are about seven species of Bulrush found in South Carolina, three of those being fairly rare in our State and then two of those rare species being mainly inland and submergent in growth form. But here on the coast, Saltmarsh Bulrush is the most common species you’ll encounter in our salt suffused marshes around the Sea Islands. Saltmarsh Bulrush has more salt tolerance than other Bulrushes and grows abundantly in the brackish marshes of tidal rivers, especially in old tidal rice impoundments where it can be the dominant vegetation. It also occurs on brackish pond banks and on the upland borders of salt marshes, in the uncommon spots where there is consistent confluence of upland groundwater running out to sea and intermingling with tidewater to create micro-habitats of brackish marsh.
Saltmarsh Bulrush is a perennial aquatic sedge that spreads clonally through underground rhizomes. It has a grassy appearance and emerald-green leaves and stems reaching up to waist-high. As a sedge, not a grass, it has stems that are triangular in cross-section and leaves with a strong crease down the center. In ideal conditions, it grows vigorously and can form a monoculture in shallow brackish waters. Saltmarsh Bulrush flowers appear at the top of the stem from brown, hairy, teardrop-shaped structures in clusters of a dozen or two. It begins to bloom in early spring and can continue blooming throughout summer. Its seeds mature within these same structures before being shed into the water below, where they drift to shore or settle below into the sediment. These seeds provide food for waterfowl, rails, and rodents and the Bulrushes themselves provide cover and protection for these same critters, and many more.
