Southern Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Eleocharis equisetoides (Elliott) Torr.
- Family: Sedge (Cyperaceae)
- Flowering: June-October
- Field Marks: This spikerush is unique in having lighter colored lines across the stems giving it a "jointed" appearance.
- Habitat: From wet ground to shallow water around the margins of ponds and lakes.
- Habit: Perennial herb with stout, thickened rootstocks.
- Stems: Upright, round in cross-section, hollow, with conspicuous cross-walls, smooth, up to 3 feet tall.
- Leaves: 0.
- Flowers: Crowded into a solitary, terminal spikelet; spikelet cylindrical, rounded, or somewhat pointed, up to 1 1/2 inches long, about the same diameter as the supporting stem.
- Spikelets:
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Ovary superior; style 3-cleft.
- Fruits: Achenes obovoid, brown, shiny, with a conical tubercle at the tip, subtended by six bristles.
Previous Species -- Gulf Coast Spikerush (Eleocharis cellulosa)
Return to Species List -- Group 3
Next Species -- Small Spikerush (Eleocharis parvula)
