Index / Search / Schoenoplectus californicus

§1 Plant

Schoenoplectus californicus (C.A. Mey.) Palla

vernacular California bulrush — species · Cyperaceae


USDA
SCCA11
GBIF
2711108
Rank
species
California bulrush (Schoenoplectus californicus)
Platephotograph · Tina ReimerCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Cyperaceae Juss.
Genus
Schoenoplectus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 83 counties across 10 states/territories
Legend Native · 83 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
High
Moisture use
High
Fire
High
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
17 °F minimum
Frost-free days
200 min.
Precipitation
40–60 in/yr
pH range
5–9
Root depth
14 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
6.6 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Yellow-Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Brown
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Rapid
Stratify
No
Propagation
seed, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Graze palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 83 counties across 10 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 3 N
Arizona view state ↗ 5 N
Arkansas view state ↗ 3 N
Florida view state ↗ 18 N
Georgia view state ↗ 3 N
Louisiana view state ↗ 13 N
Mississippi view state ↗ 1 N
New Mexico view state ↗ 1 N
Tennessee view state ↗ 2 N
Texas view state ↗ 34 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SCCA11 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2711108 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T11:35:19Z