Northeast Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Eleocharis ovata (Roth) Roem. & J.A. Schultes
- Family: Sedge (Cyperaceae)
- Flowering: August-October
- Field Marks: This species is distinguished by its ovoid spike that is pointed at the tip and the tubercle of the achene 1/2-2/3 the width of the achene.
- Habitat: Wet ground.
- Habit: Tufted annual herb with fibrous roots.
- Stems: Upright, unbranched, rather slender, inconspicuously 3-angled, smooth, up to 1 1/2 feet tall, each bearing a terminal spike.
- Leaves: Reduced to basal sheaths, the sheaths red, brown, or straw-colored.
- Flowers: Crowded into a terminal spike, the spike ovoid, pointed at the tip, up to 1/2 inch long, up to 1/4 inch thick; scales appressed, narrowly ovate to oblong, rounded at the tip, sometimes purplish.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Ovary superior; styles 2.
- Fruits: Achenes obovoid in overall outline but lens-shaped (flattened) laterally, yellow to deep brown, smooth, about 1/20 inch long, with a terminal tubercle; tubercle 1/2-2/3 the width of the achene, sometimes 2- or 3-parted at the tip; bristles longer than the achene, or lacking.
- Notes: The achenes are eaten by waterfowl.
Previous Species -- Thin-leaf Flatsedge (Cyperus tenuifolius)
Return to Species List -- Group 3
Next Species -- Small Spikerush (Eleocharis parvula)
