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Cladium mariscoides

(Muhl.) Torr.

Twig-rush

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.155072

Element CodePMCYP04050

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

IUCNLeast concern

KingdomPlantae

PhylumAnthophyta

ClassMonocotyledoneae

OrderCyperales

FamilyCyperaceae

GenusCladium

Other Common Names

Marisque inerme (FR) smooth sawgrass (EN) Smooth Sawgrass (EN)

Concept Reference

Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Taxonomic Comments

Vegetatively distinct from Cladium jamaicense. Their ranges overlap on the eastern coast of the Carolinas and the western Florida Panhandle to coastal Alabama (Bridges & Orzell, 1993).

Conservation Status

Rank MethodExpertise without calculation

Review Date2016-05-13

Change Date1984-02-29

Edition Date1995-04-03

Edition AuthorsK. Crowley, MRO

Range Extent20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences81 to >300

Rank Reasons

Cladium mariscoides is abundant in many regions of its broad range. Like many species, it may be threatened by destruction of its wetland habitats, but it is secure at the moment.

Range Extent Comments

The range of Cladium mariscoides is continuous from New Brunswick and Newfoundland west to Minnesota and south to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Populations are generally scattered from Virginia south to Florida and Alabama. This species is disjunct in Texas (Bridges and Orzell 1989) and Saskatchewan. Populations may be relictual in the Southeast (Bridges et al. 1993, Anderson 1991).

Threat Impact Comments

The principal threat to Cladium mariscoides is the destruction of its wetland habitats, but this species occurs in a fairly wide variety of wetlands. Specific threats include the development of wetlands; drainage of wetlands for agriculture and conversion to pasture; peat mining; successional overgrowth of habitat by woody species; and invasion by exotic plant species, such as purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and common loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris). Highly threatened by sedimentation, land-use conversion, habitat fragmentation, and forest management practices (Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project 2002).

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Cladium mariscoides occurs in open, sunny, wet areas dominated by sedges. Its habitats include the following: calcareous and saline marshes and swamps; patterned water tracks, spring fens, and calcareous fens; and wetlands and swales of the Atlantic coastal plain and the Great Lakes.

Other Nations (2)

United StatesNNR

Province	Rank	Native
Vermont	S2	Yes
Florida	S1	Yes
Virginia	S3	Yes
Mississippi	S1	Yes
Kentucky	S1	Yes
Maryland	S4	Yes
Maine	SNR	Yes
Texas	SNR	Yes
Massachusetts	SNR	Yes
Wisconsin	SNR	Yes
Michigan	SNR	Yes
Rhode Island	SNR	Yes
Connecticut	SNR	Yes
North Carolina	S3	Yes
Alabama	S1	Yes
Minnesota	S3	Yes
Illinois	S3	Yes
New Jersey	S5	Yes
Delaware	S4	Yes
Ohio	S3	Yes
South Carolina	S1	Yes
New York	S5	Yes
Pennsylvania	S2	Yes
Indiana	SNR	Yes
New Hampshire	SNR	Yes

CanadaN5

Province	Rank	Native
Nova Scotia	S5	Yes
Saskatchewan	S1	Yes
New Brunswick	S3	Yes
Island of Newfoundland	S1	Yes
Ontario	S5	Yes
Quebec	S3	Yes
Prince Edward Island	S1	Yes
Manitoba	S2	Yes

Plant Characteristics

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (2)

Michigan (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Fibre	Hiawatha National Forest	7,432
Government Island	Hiawatha National Forest	225

References (15)

Anderson, L.C. 1991. Noteworthy plants from north Florida. V. SIDA 14(3):467-74.
Bridges, E.L., S.L. Orzell, and J.R. Burkhalter. 1993. Cladium mariscoides (Cyperaceae) in the western Florida panhandle and its phytogeographic significance. Phytologia 74(1):35-42.
Bridges, E.L., S.L. Orzell, and L.C. Anderson. 1989. <i>Carex microdonta</i> Torr. & Hook. (Cyperaceae) new to Florida. Sida 13:379-381.
Britton, N. L. and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. 3 vol. Dover Publications, Inc., N. Y. 2052 pp.
Brown, L. 1979. Grasses: An Identification Guide. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA.
Fassett, Norman C. 1940. A Manual of Aquatic Plants. McGraw- Hill Book Company, New York, New York. 382 p.
Fernald, M.L. 1950 Gray's Manual of Botany, 8th ed. American Book Company, New York. 1632 pp.
Gleason, H.A. 1952. The new Britton and Brown illustrated flora of the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. 3 volumes. Hafner Press, New York. 1732 pp.
Gleason, H.A., and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. 910 pp.
Godfrey, R.K., and J.W. Wooten. 1979. Aquatic and wetland plants of southeastern United States: Monocotyledons. Univ. Georgia Press, Athens. 712 pp.
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Mohlenbrock, R.H. 1976. Illustrated flora of Illinois. Sedges: Cyperus to Scleria. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL.
Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles, and C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Univ. North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 1183 pp.
Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project. 2002. A partnership between the U.S. Forest Service-Region 8, Natural Heritage Programs in the Southeast, NatureServe, and independent scientists to develop and review data on 1300+ regionally and locally rare species in the Southern Appalachian and Alabama region. Database (Access 97) provided to the U.S. Forest Service by NatureServe, Durham, North Carolina.
Weakley, A.S. No date. Working Draft of Flora of the Carolinas and Virginia. The Nature Conservancy, Southern Heritage Task Force, Southeast Regional Office.