''Cladium mariscus'' is a species of flowering plant in the
sedge family known by the common names swamp sawgrass, great fen-sedge,
saw-sedge or sawtooth sedge. Previously it was known as elk sedge. It is native of temperate Europe and Asia where it grows in
base-rich
In ecology, base-richness is the level of Base (chemistry), chemical bases in water or soil, such as calcium or magnesium ions. Many organisms prefer base-rich environments. Chemical bases are alkalis, hence base-rich environments are either pH, ...
boggy areas and lakesides. It can be up to tall, and has leaves with hard serrated edges.
In the past, it was an important material to build
thatched roofs
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of t ...
; harvesting it was an arduous task due to its sharp edges that can cause deep lacerations.
[ The Worst Rural Jobs in History, Channel 4, 2006]
Subspecies
*''C. m. californicum''
(S.Watson) Govaerts - California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Texas, Sonora, Coahuila
*''C. m. intermedium'' Kük. - Australia, New Caledonia
*''C. m. jamaicense'' (Crantz) Kük. - Latin America from Mexico to Argentina; West Indies; southeastern United States from Texas to Delaware; naturalized in tropical Africa and on many oceanic islands including Canary Islands, Madagascar, New Guinea, Hawaii
*''C. m. mariscus'' - Europe, northern Asia and North Africa from Ireland and Morocco to Japan, including Germany, Italy, France, Scandinavia, Poland, Balkans, Ukraine, Russia, Siberia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Himalayas, Kazakhstan, China, Korea
References
mariscus
Flora of Lebanon
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
{{Cyperaceae-stub