Western Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Eleocharis rostellata (Torr.) Torr.
- Family: Sedge (Cyperaceae)
- Flowering: June-August
- Field Marks: This spikerush is recognized by its flattened stems, its spikelets 1/3-1/2 inch long, its beaked achenes, and its empty lowest scale of the spikelets.
- Habitat: Marshes, often in alkaline or salty areas.
- Habit: Perennial herb with stout, vertical rhizomes.
- Stems: Flattened, up to 3 feet tall, bearing a single spikelet and no leaves.
- Leaves: 0.
- Flowers: 5-25 in a spikelet, the spikelet 1/3-1/2 inch long; scales with a pale border and central area, the lowest one empty.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Ovary superior; stigmas 3.
- Fruits: Achenes more or less triangular, tapering to an elongated beak, light green to pale brown, 1/10-1/8 inch long, subtended by a few bristles usually longer than the achenes.
- Notes: The achenes are eaten by waterfowl.
Previous Species -- Few-flower Spikerush (Eleocharis pauciflora)
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Next Species -- Slender Cotton-grass (Eriophorum gracile )
