EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

The Monodominant Swamp Rush

Chairmaker's Bulrush (Schoenoplectus [Scirpus] americanus), Family Cyperaceae
Waccamaw River Baldcypress Swamp, South Carolina, USA

Explanation:  Here is a widespread plant species, a "rush," that very commonly dominates marshes and swamps.  As such, it can be termed a "monodominant" ... one species that rules them all.  

Here, it is late April, in swamplands along the Waccamaw River in South Carolina USA.  It is heartening to slug through the saturated soils amidst this native species.  I was happy to not see this ecosystem dominated by invasive species.  

  
The roots (rhizomes) of this rush are a preferred food of muskrat, Canada goose, snow goose, and sometimes deer and nutria, and seeds are sometimes consumed by wintering ducks.  

According to the USDA Plants Database, the name chairmaker's bulrush has a wonderful origin:  "American three square stems were used by the Nuu-chah-nulth [indigenous peoples of the Canadian Pacific Northwest coast] as the foundation material for their beautiful wrapped-twine baskets."

It is also known as three-square bulrush and Olney three-square (referring to its triangular-shaped stems) ... and is known by a number of other scientific names.