Eleocharis

Eleocharis is a genus of 250 or more species the Cyperaceae (sedge family). They are known commonly as spikerushes, although spikesedges is a more technically appropriate name and most scientists who study them in earnest refer to them as such. The genus has a geographically cosmopolitan distribution, with centers of diversity in the Amazon and adjacent eastern slopes of the South American Andes, northern Australia, eastern North America, California, Southern Africa, and subtropical Asia. The vast majority of Eleocharis species grow in aquatic or mesic habitats from sea level to higher than 5,000 meters in elevation (in the tropical Andes).

One of the best known species is the Chinese water chestnut, Eleocharis dulcis. These plants bear tubers on their rhizomes which may be peeled and eaten raw or boiled. In Australia, magpie geese rely almost exclusively on these tubers for sustenance for a significant portion of the year.


Selected species
Eleocharis acicularis is a species of spikesedge known by the common names needle spikerush and dwarf hairgrass. It has a circumboreal distribution and it can also be found throughout the rest of the Americas. It lives in Australia, where it was probably an introduced species. This is an annual or perennial spikesedge with long, grasslike stems to about 15 centimeters in height, shorter in bog conditions, from a creeping rhizome. In shallow water it will form short spikes of tiny flowers amongst flat overlapping bracts. The tiny flowers are less than five millimeters in diameter and are borne at the tip of each stem in single, sharply pointed, lanceoloid spikelets up to about six millimeters long. This is a plant of marshes, vernal pools, and bogs, and it is also used as an aquarium plant. It thrives with plenty of light and a high concentration of carbon dioxide.

Eleocharis atropurpurea is a species of spikesedge known by the common name purple spikerush. This is an aquatic plant native to much of the tropical world. It also has a wide distribution in temperate regions of North and South America and Asia. It is present in Europe, where it may be an introduced species for the most part. This plant can be found in wet areas from ocean shores to rice fields and irrigation ditches to inland lakes and rivers. This is an annual sedge rarely exceeding ten centimeters in height. It grows in tufts with few reddish-green leaves and many thin erect stems. Atop each stem is an oval-shaped, pointed inflorescence consisting of a spikelet under a centimeter long and containing at least ten flowers. Each tiny flower is covered by a bract which is a purplish-brown color. The fruit is a minute shiny black achene less than a millimeter long.

Eleocharis geniculata is a species of spikesedge known by several common names, including bent spikerush and Canada spikesedge. This is a widespread plant of wet areas in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and some Pacific Islands. It is an annual spikesedge growing to a maximum height of about 40 centimeters. It has a few straw-colored leaves and many thin erect stems. The stems hold inflorescences of rounded spikelets each containing at least 10 tiny flowers. The flowers are covered with dark greenish-brown bracts. The fruit is a shiny purple-brown achene not more than a millimeter long.

Eleocharis macrostachya is a species of spikesedge known by the common name pale spikerush. It is widely distributed across North America and occurs in parts of South America. It is a plant of varied moist habitats, including freshwater lakes and brackish marshes and ponds, ditches, vernal pools, and wet meadows. This is a rhizomatous perennial generally reaching heights between one half and one meter. It has bright green erect stems and straw-colored basal leaves. The top of each stem is occupied by a narrow, lance-shaped or cylindrical inflorescence. The spikelet is one or two centimeters long and has at least ten flowers, each covered with a purplish-brown bract. The fruit is a yellow or yellow-brown achene with a whitish cone-shaped tubercle on one end, measuring one or two millimeters long.

Eleocharis obtusa is a species of spikesedge known by the common name blunt spikerush. This plant is widely distributed across Canada and the United States, where it grows in wet areas such as riverbanks and moist forest floors. It is also a weed of rice paddies, especially when the rice plants are young sprouts. This is an annual spikesedge approaching half a meter in maximum height. It has many green cylindrical stems which are erect but weak and spongy. There may be thin, grasslike leaves toward the base of the plant, which are generally straw-colored. Atop each stem is a rounded or oblong spikelet containing at least ten flowers, each covered by an oval-shaped brown bract.

Eleocharis pachycarpa is a species of spikesedge known by the common name black sand spikerush. This plant is native to Chile but it grows in other parts of the world as an introduced species, such as Australia and the US states of California and Nevada. It is a resident of moist areas, such as riverbanks, vernal pools, salt marshes, and wet meadows. This is a rhizomatous perennial generally not exceeding 40 centimeters in height. It forms clumps of very thin stringlike stems of smooth bright green which are four-sided or cylindrical. The stems are somewhat erect but they bend easily to become stolons; if the tip touches the substrate it may root there and produce a new plant. The spikelet is a flat oval shape up to a centimeter long and holds ten or more flowers, each covered in a dark purple-brown or black bract. The fruit is a tiny light-colored achene about a millimeter long.

Eleocharis palustris (Common Spike-rush; Creeping Spike-rush; Marsh Spike-rush) is a species of mat-forming perennial plants in the genus Eleocharis growing in wetlands throughout the Boreal Kingdom. Eleocharis palustris is not easily distinguished from other closely related species and is extremely variable worldwide itself.

Eleocharis quinqueflora is a species of spikesedge known by the common name fewflower spikerush. This plant has a circumboreal distribution and is also found in the southern half of the United States, as well as Chile. It is a resident of wet meadows, bogs, hot springs, and other moist places. This is a rhizomatous perennial approaching a maximum height of 40 centimeters. The thin, flattened stems are surrounded by papery reddish to green leaf sheaths and topped with dark inflorescences. The spikelet is lance-shaped to oval and less than a centimeter long. It contains two to seven flowers, each of which is covered with a brown or black bract. The fruit is a yellow-brown achene two or three millimeters long.

Eleocharis radicans is a species of spikesedge known by the common name rooted spikerush. This aquatic or semi-aquatic plant is native to the Americas as far north as Virginia and northern California. It grows in wet places such as streams, lakes, bogs, and moist meadows, where it roots on soaked ground or floats in the water. This is a rhizomatous, mat-forming perennial with thread-thin, spongy stems. It may have several thin leaves. The stems are topped with papery spikelets about half a centimeter long at maximum size and containing 4 to 12 flowers, each covered with a light-colored bract. The fruit is a minute white or yellow achene less than a millimeter long.

Eleocharis vivipara is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by several common names, including umbrella hairgrass, sprouting spikerush, and viviparous spikerush. It is native to the southern United States. It takes the form of a clump of thin stems. A spike of flowers appears at the tip of the stem. The plant may also reproduce by growing a plantlet and runners.

Eleocharis bella - beautiful spikerush

Eleocharis tenuis - slender spikerush

Eleocharis montevidensis - sand spikerush

Eleocharis mutata - scallion grass

Eleocharis cellulosa - coastal spikerush, Gulf Coast spikerush

Eleocharis parvula - dwarf spikerush

Eleocharis quadrangulata - squarestem spikerush

Eleocharis rostellata - beaked spikerush

Eleocharis compressa - flatstem spikerush

Eleocharis pachystyla - false junco

Peony Flowers

The peony or paeony (Paeonia) is the only genus in the flowering plant family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America.

Most are herbaceous perennial plants 0.5–1.5 metres tall, but... more >>>

Mandevilla

Mandevilla, sometimes also called Dipladenia, is a genus of plants. It consists of about 100 species, mostly tropical and subtropical flowering vines belonging to the family Apocynaceae, the Periwinkle family.

Mandevilla is... more >>>

Nigella

Nigella is a genus of about 14 species of annual plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to southern Europe, north Africa and southwest Asia. Common names applied to members of this genus are Devil-in-a-bush or Love in the mist.
more >>>

Nemophila

Nemophila is a genus found in the flowering plant family Hydrophyllaceae.

Most of the species in Nemophila contain the phrase "baby blue-eyes" in their common names. N. menziesii has the common name of "Baby... more >>>

Wolffia

Wolffia is a genus of 9 to 11 species which include the smallest flowering plants on Earth. Commonly called watermeal, these aquatic plants resemble specks of cornmeal floating on the water. Wolffia species are free-floating thalii, green or... more >>>