Tall Beakrush NS General Status Rank: At Risk NS General Status Rank: Sensitive Olney’s Bulrush GRASS-LIKE : GRAMINOIDS Range opulation P 81 Rhynchospora macrostachya GRASS-LIKE : GRAMINOIDS Schoenoplectus americanus 82 POPULATION POPULATION RANGE RANGE

Distribution: NS Distribution: NS, BC Flowering: July - October Flowering: June - September

SIZE: 0.5-2 m tall. SIZE: 0.3-2.5 m tall. LEAVES: Flat and 1 cm wide. LEAVES: Few (1-3), stiffly erect and STEM: Green, three-sided, slender restricted to the base and the lower and erect, with one or a few per . portion of the stem. They are 3 to 15 FLOWERS:15-20 mm long spikelets cm long, less than 1 cm wide and are which grow in a cluster at the tip of the deeply channelled or v-shaped stem. The scales on the spikelet are (particularly near the base). light brown and lance-shaped. STEM: Straight, sharply triangular FRUITS: Dry, flat, oval and within the stem (culm), 3-10 mm wide, often with upper scales of the spikelet. They deeply concave sides which give the have a long beak on one end stem three pronounced ridges. and three bristles Spikelets FLOWERS: 2-20 spikelets in a on each compact cluster, each 6-15 mm long. side which The spikelets are surpassed by a extend past modified leaf (bract), 1-5.5 cm long, the main which is stiffly erect and looks like a part of the continuation of the stem. seed. FRUITS: Dry, one-seeded fruits NOTES: (achenes). Modified leaf Currently this NOTES: (bract) Cross-section species is known of the stem © SEAN BLANEY Also © DAVID MAZEROLLE to occur on only © CHADDE (2011) one lake in NS known as (and Canada!). americanus. ©MARTIN THOMAS This Spikelets species often grows in large dense stands.

Spikelets © DAVID MAZEROLLE Growing along the lakeshore © BRITTON AND BROWN (1913)

Habitat: Salt marshes, typically in wet brackish soils at the Flowering spikelets ©MARTIN THOMAS Spikelets © ALAIN BELLIVEAU edge of the marshes. Interesting point: This species was traditionally used to make woven baskets, bags, and hats. Its seeds are high in protein are can be ground and mixed with flour for baking. David by Tall Beakrush © SEAN BLANEY Similar species: Three-square Bulrush () has a triangular stem Habitat: that is not concave and does not have pronounced Wet and exposed sandy or mucky lakeshores. ridges. Hard-stemmed Bulrush (Schoenoplectus Interesting point: This species was discovered in NS (and Canada) for the first time in ) and Soft-stemmed Bulrush 2009 by botanists David Mazerolle and Sean Basquill, and identified by Sean Blaney. acutus Brownish Beakrush (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani) can occur in Similar species: Brownish Beakrush (Rhyncospora fusca) is shorter (15-40 cm tall) brackish wetlands but are taller with round stems. and has smaller spikelets (4-6 mm long). Tall Beakrush is a very distinctive species that looks © CHADDE (2011) Other similar bulrushes do not occur in salty or like a gigantic Brownish Beakrush plant. Since it is much larger it can be easily identified. brackish habitats. Dense stand of Olney's Bulrush © SEAN BLANEY