Black Bog-rush
Schoenus nigricans
Black Bog-rush, a plant of peaty bogs and fens.
Description/identification
Black Bog-rush is not a rush but a sedge! This beautiful species can be recognised for its almost 1m in height and its dense tufts with dark fruiting heads. Black Bog-rush flowers from April to June, and it is the host plant for various moths and flies, and food for mammals such as rabbits.
Habitat
Black Bog-rush can be found in calcareous fens, especially near springs. This species also grows in marshes and peaty bogs, wet coastal dune slacks and the uppermost edges of saltmarshes where there is base-rich flushing.
Distribution and threats
Black Bog-rush is listed as Least Concern in the Vascular Plant Red List for England, nevertheless it is catalogued as scarce in the administrative county of Oxfordshire, where only five records of the species have been made since 2010.