UW Burke Herbarium species comparison

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Eleocharis engelmannii

Eleocharis quinqueflora

Engelman spikerush

few-flowered spike-rush
Habit Tufted annual, 0.5-5 dm. tall, the culms 0.5-2 mm. thick, with many ribs. Herbaceous perennial from short, stout rhizomes; also with elongate, slender stolons with a terminal bud; culms 1-3 dm. tall, under 1 mm. thick.
Leaves

Leaves all basal and reduced to sheaths.

Leaves all basal and reduced to sheaths.
Flowers

Spikelet terminal and solitary, 5-13 mm. long, ovoid, many-flowered, usually over 40;

scales spirally arranged, 1.7-2.5 mm. long, purplish or brownish, with greenish mid-strip and paler, translucent margins, the lowest one sometimes empty;

perianth bristles 6-7, brownish, about equal to the achene, or wanting;

stamens 3;

style usually bifid, thickened at the base.

Spikelet terminal and solitary, 4-8 mm. long, 3- to 9-flowered;

scales spirally arranged, 2.5-5.5 mm. long, the lower 2 larger than the others but subtending flowers;

perianth bristles longer or shorter than the achene;

stamens 3;

stigma trifid, thickened at the base.
Fruits

Achenes lenticular, 1.0-1.5 mm. long, including the flattened tubercle, which is appressed to the summit of the brown, smooth and shining body of the achene.

Achenes broadest above the middle, 1.9-2.6 mm. long including the short stylar beak which is continuous with the body of the 3-ribbed, triangular or plano-convex achene.

Eleocharis engelmannii

Eleocharis quinqueflora
Flowering time June-September June-August
Habitat Marshes and other wet places, from sea level to moderate elevations in the mountains. Bogs and other wet places, from the lowlands to high elevations in the mountains.
Distribution
Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across the northern U.S. and Canada to northeastern North America; circumboreal.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Native Native
Conservation status Not of concern Not of concern
Sibling taxa
E. acicularis, E. bella, E. bolanderi, E. coloradoensis, E. erythropoda, E. geniculata, E. macrostachya, E. mamillata, E. obtusa, E. ovata, E. palustris, E. parvula, E. quinqueflora, E. rostellata, E. suksdorfiana, E. uniglumis
E. acicularis, E. bella, E. bolanderi, E. coloradoensis, E. engelmannii, E. erythropoda, E. geniculata, E. macrostachya, E. mamillata, E. obtusa, E. ovata, E. palustris, E. parvula, E. rostellata, E. suksdorfiana, E. uniglumis
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the University of Washington's Burke Herbarium.



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