UW Burke Herbarium species comparison

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Eleocharis parvula

Eleocharis quinqueflora

little-head spikerush

few-flowered spike-rush
Habit Diminutive, very slender perennial from slender rhizomes, forming dense mats; culms filiform, 2-6 cm. tall. 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, 2-4.5 mm. long with 2-9 flowers;

scales of the spikelets spirally arranged, 1.5-2 mm. long, the lowest one empty;

perianth of 3-6 bristles, or none;

stamens 3;

style trifid, 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 straw-colored, triangular 0.9-1.3 mm. long including the inconspicuous tubercle, which is confluent with the 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 parvula

Eleocharis quinqueflora
Flowering time June-September June-August
Habitat Wet, saline or alkaline soils. 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; British Columbia to California, and from Kansas east and north 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. engelmannii, E. erythropoda, E. geniculata, E. macrostachya, E. mamillata, E. obtusa, E. ovata, E. palustris, 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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