''Bolboschoenus maritimus'' is a species of flowering plant from family Cyperaceae. Common names for this species include sea clubrush, cosmopolitan bulrush, alkali bulrush, saltmarsh bulrush, and bayonet grass. It is found in seaside

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

habitats over much of the world. It is widespread across much of temperate and subtropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, North America,

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

and various islands.

Habitat

As a

halophyte A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. Th ...

, ''B. maritimus'' is usually found in saline habitats, including the northern coast of the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

, Scandinavia, and in coastal western and southern Europe, as well as inland in northern Poland, Pannonia, and as far east as the Ural Mountains. ''B. maritimus'' often dominates in areas with saline, muddy substrates that are rich in minerals with substantial water level fluctuations that typically flood in spring and early summer. However these habitats have grown in economic importance and are used intensively for livestock grazing, which has led to the disappearance of ''B. maritimus'' from its historical range, exacerbated by land reclamation, invasive species, and conversion to arable land.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileWashington Burke MuseumPhoto gallery
maritimus Flora of Africa Flora of Asia Flora of Europe Flora of North America Flora of South America Plants described in 1753 Salt marsh plants Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Taxa named by Eduard Palla {{Cyperaceae-stub