Bolboschoenus glaucus(Lam.) S.G.Sm.

Tuberous Bulrushtuberous bulrush

WFO wfo-0000341690 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 3 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 3 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Bolboschoenus glaucus, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. a Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / 2017-06-13 / obs. 8417442
Bolboschoenus glaucus, photographed by Santiago Martín-Bravo
fig. b Santiago Martín-Bravo, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 130468732
Bolboschoenus glaucus, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. c Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 8417428
Bolboschoenus glaucus, photographed by Charleen Brunke
fig. d Charleen Brunke, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 180131843
Bolboschoenus glaucus, photographed by Charleen Brunke
fig. e Charleen Brunke, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 599022971
Bolboschoenus glaucus, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. f Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 8417436
Bolboschoenus glaucus, photographed by Santiago Martín-Bravo
fig. g Santiago Martín-Bravo, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 130468697
Bolboschoenus glaucus, photographed by Santiago Martín-Bravo
fig. h Santiago Martín-Bravo, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 130468711

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 65 botanical countries

Regions where Bolboschoenus glaucus is native: Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Chad, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Free State, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Senegal, Somalia, Tanzania, Tunisia, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Lebanon-Syria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Palestine, Sinai, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, Albania, Baleares, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kriti, Krym, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Romania, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Ukraine AlgeriaAngolaBotswanaCape ProvincesChadDjiboutiDR CongoEgyptEswatiniEthiopiaFree StateKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLibyaMadagascarMalawiMaliMauritaniaMoroccoMozambiqueNamibiaNorthern ProvincesSenegalSomaliaTanzaniaTunisiaWestern SaharaZambiaZimbabweAfghanistanCyprusIranIraqKazakhstanKirgizstanLebanon-SyriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusPalestineSinaiTadzhikistanTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanUzbekistanIndiaPakistanAlbaniaBulgariaFranceGreeceHungaryItalyKritiKrymNW. Balkan Pen.PortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainUkraine Canary Is.MauritiusBaleares
Native distribution of Bolboschoenus glaucus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Angola ANG
Botswana BOT
Canary Is. CNY
Cape Provinces CPP
Chad CHA
Djibouti DJI
DR Congo ZAI
Egypt EGY
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Libya LBY
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mauritius MAU
Morocco MOR
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Northern Provinces TVL
Senegal SEN
Somalia SOM
Tanzania TAN
Tunisia TUN
Western Sahara WSA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Cyprus CYP
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Sinai SIN
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
Albania ALB EUROPE
Baleares BAL
Bulgaria BUL
France FRA
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Ukraine UKR
India IND ASIA-TROPICAL
Pakistan PAK

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 39 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -2.8 °C 5.8 °C 13.0 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 24.1 °C 27.3 °C 34.6 °C
Annual rainfall 320 mm 582 mm 1,025 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 5 mm 18 mm 131 mm

It is found where winters bring light frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 39 research-grade observations of Bolboschoenus glaucus that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 15 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Bolboschoenus macrostachys (Willd.) Grossh.
  • Bolboschoenus maritimus subsp. macrostachys (Willd.) Soják
  • Bolboschoenus maritimus subsp. tuberosus (Desf.) T.Koyama
  • Bolboschoenus maritimus var. macrostachys (Willd.) T.V.Egorova
  • Bolboschoenus tuberosus (Desf.) Hadac
  • Reigera maritimus var. tuberosus (Desf.) Opiz
  • Scirpus glaucus Lam.
  • Scirpus macrostachys Willd.
  • Scirpus maritimus f. macrostachys (Willd.) Nilsson
  • Scirpus maritimus f. macrostachys (Willd.) Junge
  • Scirpus maritimus var. glaucus (Lam.) Nees
  • Scirpus maritimus var. macrostachys (Willd.) Dumort.
  • Scirpus maritimus var. tuberosus (Desf.) Schrad.
  • Scirpus maritimus var. tuberosus (Desf.) Roem. & Schult.
  • Scirpus tuberosus Desf.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.