Flora of North America species comparison

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Cladium

marisque, sawgrass, twig-rush
Habit Herbs, perennial, cespitose or not, rhizomatous or stoloniferous.
Culms

solitary or not, terete or rounded-trigonous, usually 70+ cm.
Leaves

cauline;

ligules absent;

blades flat to involute.
Inflorescences

terminal or some lateral, corymbose or subcapitate, conspicuously branched;

spikelets 100–1000+;

involucral bracts 3–4+, spreading, leaflike.
Spikelets

scales 5–6, spirally arranged, proximal 1–3 scales empty, distal 3–4 scales each subtending flower.
Flowers

bisexual or staminate;

perianth absent;

stamens 2–3;

styles linear, 3-fid, base persistent, somewhat thickened.
Achenes

terete.
x

= 20.

Cladium
Distribution
from USDA
North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Eurasia; Africa; and Australia
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 4 (3 in the flora).

Cladium is here accepted in the strict sense, i.e., consisting of four species: C. mariscus, of the Old World, and three species treated below. The genus had been treated in a broader sense, including Machaerina Vahl (G. Kükenthal 1942). Later studies (cited by G. C. Tucker 1987) argue against such a broad circumscription of the genus. Machaerina was excluded by M. T. Strong (1997). Species of Cladium consistently differ from those of Machaerina in their smaller, less differentiated embryos and anisobilateral leaves with inverted bundles (illustrated by C. R. Metcalfe).

According to G. Kükenthal (1942), Cladium mariscus comprised three subspecies: C. mariscus subsp. mariscus of Europe and Asia; C. mariscus subsp. jamaicense (Crantz) Kükenthal of the Western Hemisphere, Africa, and Hawaii; and C. mariscus subsp. intermedium Kükenthal of Australia. He synonymized C. californicum under C. mariscus subsp. jamaicense. Most American authors have treated C. jamaicense as distinct from the Eastern Hemisphere C. mariscus, a view followed here with some trepidation. Resolution of this taxonomic problem is well beyond the scope of this flora. The culms and leaves of Cladium mariscus are gathered and used in the manufacture of paper products in the Danube Delta, Romania.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Culms 0.3–1 m × 1–2 mm; leaves 2–3 mm wide, conduplicate to subinvolute, margins ± smooth; inflorescences 15–25 cm, with 1st and 2d order branches only.
C. mariscoides
1. Culms 1–3 m × 5–10 mm; leaves 5–20 mm wide, flat to broadly V-shaped, margins harshly scabrid; inflorescences 30–50 cm, with 3d and 4th order branches.
→ 2
2. Spikelets mostly in groups of 2–3(–6); inflorescences with 3d and 4th order branches; culms 1–3 m, coastal se United States.
C. jamaicense
2. Spikelets mostly in groups of 3–6; inflorescences rarely with 4th order branches; culms 1–2 m; sw United States.
C. californicum
Source FNA vol. 23, p. 240. Author: Gordon C. Tucker.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae
Subordinate taxa
C. californicum, C. jamaicense, C. mariscoides
Synonyms Mariscus
Name authority P. Browne: Civ. Nat. Hist. Jamaica, 114. (1756)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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