Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains
62. Cyperaceae, the Sedge Family
5. Elocharis R. Br. -- Spikesedge, spikerush10. Eleocharis wolfii A. Gray -- Wolf's spikesedge
Sparsely tufted perennial from slender rhizomes; culms flattened, frequently spiraled, 1-3 dm tall, mostly 0.7-1.5 mm wide; sheaths often purplish toward the base, membranous, sharply oblique at the orifice. Spikelets narrowly ovoid, 4-9 mm long, 2-3 mm thick; scales few, all floriferous, marked with purple, ovate-lanceolate, ca. 3 mm long, broadly scarious on the margins; perianth none; styles trifid. Achenes gray, with several longitudinal ridges and many fine crosslines, nearly terete, 0.7-1 mm long, 1/2 as wide; tubercle conic, 1/4 as long as the achene, constricted at the attachment to the achene. Jun--Jul. Wet meadows and low prairie; rare and scattered from w MN and e ND to s NE; (IN to Alta., s to TN, LA and CO; adventive in NY).
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