Participant Info

Species

Schoenoplectus acutus [Scirpus acutus] [Schoenoplectus lacustris subsp. acutus]

Family

Cyperaceae

CommonName

tule, common tule, hardstem bulrush, viscid bulrush

Presence

yes

Status

EarliestDate

1929

LatestDate

2025

Ecosystem

basin, shrubland, foothill, ruderal

Geobotanical

UBasin, LBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Baca, Monte Vista, Russell Lakes

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Comments

NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. Common tule has been vouchered from the Watershed basins fairly frequently. The habitat varies from saline flats to sandy pond margins to roadside ditches. The fact that it can still be found in wildlife preserves (e.g., Russell Lakes, Monte Vista, La Baca) suggests before agriculture and the draining of wetlands in the Valley, the species was probably much more wide spread there. Schoenoplectus is common in the USA western states and across the northern third of the nation, almost totally absent in the Deep South. It follows the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico to the Big Bend country of Texas. Incidentally, the name "tule" is Aztec; Spaniards heard the Aztecs give Schoenoplectus acutus growing around Lake Texcoco that name, and later applied it to the same species in California.

Annotation