About Schoenoplectus californicus (C.A.Mey.) Soják
Schoenoplectus californicus is a water plant with rhizomes that grows in marshy areas. It is native to the southern and western United States, Mexico, Central America, South America, Easter Island, and the Falkland Islands. It has become naturalized on several Pacific islands, including New Zealand, Hawaii, and the Cook Islands. This species produces tall, thin, dark green stems that are usually triangular in cross-section. Its flowers are woolly and bristly, colored tan or brown, and arranged in panicle inflorescences.
A well-known subspecies of this plant is totora, Schoenoplectus californicus subsp. tatora. This subspecies is most famous for forming the floating islands that the Uros people of Lake Titicaca live on, and it also grows on isolated Easter Island in the Pacific. Many cultures have made boats from this plant; one example is the Caballito de totora boat style produced in Peru for over 3,000 years. This plant is still farmed in coastal wetlands for boat production. An ecological reserve specifically dedicated to protecting these totora sedge farms exists, called the Swamps of Huanchaco.
