Tufted Club-rush - Trichophorum cespitosum
Other Names:
Scirpus cespitosus, Trichophorum caespitosum
State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
Rare in Montana, where it is currently documented from over a dozen fens and wet meadows in the mountainous portion of western Montana.
- Details on Status Ranking and Review
Tufted Club-rush (Trichophorum cespitosum) Conservation Status Review
Review Date = 10/25/2012
Population Size
Score1 - Moderate: Generally 10,000-100,000 individuals.
Comment
Range Extent
Score1 - Peripheral, Disjunct or Sporadic Distribution in MT: Widespread species that is peripheral, disjunct or sporadically distributed within MT such that it occurs in <5% of the state (<7,500 sq. miles or the combined area of Beaverhead and Ravalli Counties) or is restricted to 4-5 sub-basins.
Comment
Area of Occupancy
Score1 - Moderate: Generally occurring in 11-25 Subwatersheds (6th Code HUC’s).
Comment
Trends
Score0-1 - Stable to Minor Declines:
CommentTrends unknown, though populations are likely stable or experiencing only minor declines.
Threats
Score0-1 - Low to Medium.
Comment
Intrinsic Vulnerability
Score0-1 - Low to Moderate Vulnerability.
Comment
Environmental Specificity
Score2 - High: Species is restricted to a highly specialized and limited habitat and is typically dependent upon unaltered, high-quality habitat (C Values of 8-10).
Comment
Raw Conservation Status Score
Score
5 to 8 total points scored out of a possible 19.
General Description
Plants forming large hemispheric tussocks. Stems terete, 10–40 cm, densely clustered. Leaf blades reduced to scales at the base, often with 1 short blade on the lower stem, 1 mm or less wide. Spikelet 3–6 mm long with 2 to 4 flowers; awn of lowest bract barely longer than the spikelet. Scales 3–4 mm long, glabrous, brown, apiculate. Flowers: bristles 6, brown, barely exceeding the scale awn. Achene ca. 1.5 mm long
(Lesica 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Phenology
Mature fruit in July-August.
Diagnostic Characteristics
Trichophorum cespitosum could easily be mistaken for a species of Eleocharis; however, the former has spikelets subtended by a short-awned scale, whereas the latter do not. It resembles T. alpinum except for its smooth, round stems, and resembles T. pumilum except that it forms large, distinctive tussocks and has perianth bristles.
General Distribution
Distribution Comments
Circumboreal south to OR, ID, UT and MT (Lesica 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Summary of Observations Submitted for Montana
Number of Observations: 34
Number of Occurrences: 24
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Relative Density
Recency
(Records associated with a range of dates are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Wet meadows and sphagnum-dominated fens in the montane to alpine zones.
Ecological Systems Associated with this Species
References
- Additional ReferencesLegend:
View WorldCat Record 
View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Lesica, P. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX.
LESICA, P. 1991. THE RARE VASCULAR PLANTS OF PINE BUTTE SWAMP PRESERVE. UNPUBLISHED REPORT TO THE NATURE CONSERVANCY. 15 PP.- Lesica, P. 1992. Monitoring the SCIRPUS CESPITOSIS - SCIRPUS ACUTUS ecotone at Pine Butte Swamp Preserve. The Nature Conservancy, Montana Field Office, Helena, Montana. 9 pp.
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