Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center


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Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains

62. Cyperaceae, the Sedge Family

5. Elocharis R. Br. -- Spikesedge, spikerush

4. Eleocharis macrostachya Britt. -- Spikerush

Quite similar to the preceding but more robust; culms 1.5-10 dm tall, 1-3 mm thick; sheaths reddish or purplish toward the base, usually firm, truncate to oblique at the orifice. Spikelets ovoid to lance-cylindric, acuminate to rather blunt, 5-25 mm long, 2.5-4 mm thick; sterile basal scales 2(3); floriferous scales as in the preceding; perianth variable; styles bifid. Achenes yellow to brown, biconvex, 1.4-1.7 mm long excluding the tubercle, 1-1.2 mm wide; tubercle thick, deltoid, 0.5-0.7 mm high, 0.4-0.75 mm wide, constricted at the base. Jun--Aug. Same habitats as the preceding, often dominant in shallow marsh zones; common, often abundant; (IL to AK, s to MO, TX, CA and into Mex.). E. palustris (L.) R. & S.
GIF- Distribution Map

Previous Section -- Eleocharis erythropoda Steud. -- Spikerush
Return to Family -- Cyperaceae - The Sedge Family
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