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| Online Flora of the Maltese Islands by Stephen Mifsud |
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Bolboschoenus glaucus s.l. (Southern Clubrush) |
Bolboschoenus glaucus s.l. (CYPERACEAE.)
Images for this profile are taken from the Maltese Islands after year 2000.
Website launch: Oct-2002
Taxonomic update: Aug-2026
Code update: Jul-2026 |
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| Nomenclature and General Information |
Species name : |
Bolboschoenus glaucus s.l.(Lam.) S.G. Smith
Published in Sp. Pl. : 51 (1753) |
Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.) |
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Plant Family : |
Cyperaceae Juss. (The Sedge Family) 27 species from the Cyperaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands. | English name(s) : | Southern Clubrush, African Clubrush |
Maltese name(s) : |
Simar tal-Africa |
Status for Malta : |
Endemic. Occurs only on the Maltese islands |
Frequency : |
Very Common Common Frequent Scarce Rare Very rare Extinct |
Growth form : |
Germination type [info]: Monocotyledon
Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: Geophyte ( perennials bearing underground bulbs, tubers, rhizomes, stolons, etc. ) |
Legal Protection : |
Protected by law: Regulation 26 of [S.L. 549.44] (Strictly protected endemic species) |
Red List (1989) : |
Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands |
Flowering Time : |
April – June |
Colour of Flowers: |
Brown or Inconspicuous |
Toxicity: |
Not particularly toxic |
Name Derivation : |
Bolboschoenus: ()
glaucus s.l.: ()
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Planting in rural areas : |
Can be planted in rural areas according to ERA Guidelines |
Remarks : |
The Maltese material seems to correspond morphologically and genetically with the hybrid between B. glaucus and B. maritimus, and at present this is assumed to be an endmic hybrid. Sterility, polymorphism and intermediate characters of the achenes between the putative hybrids strongly supports this hybrid. Check paper in the links below It will be formerly described in 2023. |
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Description, Habitat and Distribution | |
Botanical Description |
Perennial, 20-30 cm. Rhizome creeping or with stolons ending with tubers, c. 7 mm diam. Stem 1-1.5 cm diam., sharply trigonous, even narrowly winged above, smooth or slightly scabrous, gryish green. Leaves as long as stem or longer; sheaths up to 10 cm, yellowish brown, soft, margin almost straight; blades to 25 cm long, 1-2.5 mm wide, flat, folded or recurved, keeled, grey green, smooth. Inflorescence up to 25 mm long, small multiple spike of 1-4 spikes; lateral spikes each with peduncles to 12 mm long; lowest bract longer than inflorescence. Spikes 6-12 x 4-6 mm, ovoid or globular, brown; tubular prophyll up to 5 mm, white, scarious; glumes 4-6 x 2-2.5 mm, cymbiform, more or less hairy, brown, sides nerveless, widely scarious, apex truncate, trifid, eroded, scarious, arista to 1,5 mm, straight to slightly recurved. Perianth bristles 4-6, c. half of the nut, persistent; stigmas 3. Nut 2.5-3 x 1.4-1.7 mm, obovoid, planoconvex, trigonous with rounded dorsal edge, brown to dark brown, apex conical, surface finely reticulate, glossy, epidermal cells small. | |
Habitat in Europe |
Species endemic to the Maltese Islands, not found in the rest of Europe
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Preferred habitat in Malta |
Valley beds and flooded wetlands
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Chromosome number(s) |
2n=80 | |
Distributional range |
Most of Europe
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Distributional maps from various sources |
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Occurrences in Europe (from Flora Europaea till 1993) |
All Europe except Faroe Islands, Iceland, Svalbard archipelago
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Occurrences in Europe (from Euro+Med Checklist till 2024)
Country codes
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Ab(A) Ag Al Au(A) Az(F T) Be Bl(I M N) Br Bt Bu Ca(F T) Cg Co Cr Cs Ct Cy Da Fe Ga(C F) Ge Gr Hb(E N) He Ho Hs(S) Hu Ir It Jo Le Li Lu Ma Md(M P) Mo No Po Rf(C N S) Rm Sa Si(S) Sk Sl Sn Sr Su Sy Tn Tu(A E) Uk(K U)
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| Links & Further literature
(1 papers) |
Google Web |
Google Images |
Google Scholar |
Research Gate |
Wikipedia |
JSTOR |
GBIF |
Med Checklist |
Cat. of Life |
EoL |
IPNI |
World Flora Online |
Plants of the World Online |
Vienna Virt. Herb. |
RBGE Herbarium |
KEW Herbarium |
MNHN |
Garden Database |
IUCN |
TROPICOS |
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Bolboschoenus (Cyperaceae) in the Maltese Islands - an enigma of taxonomic interest. |
Stephen Mifsud (2022) |
Kindly Email if there are papers and publications about local
studies or information about this species to be included in the list above.
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Sales and Donations
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Sales of seeds of wild plant from Malta: Seeds of selected wild plant species may be available for academic studies, research purposes, or personal use. Please note that not all species can be supplied or exported. Availability is subject to seasonal seed production, stock levels, and applicable regulations, including Maltese legislation and CITES requirements where relevant. Protected and endemic species cannot be sold (at least without the relevant environmental permits).
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