Flora of North America species comparison

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Eleocharis albida

Eleocharis minima

white spikerush

small spikerush
Habit Plants perennial; rhizomes soft, longer internodes 2–4 cm, cortex loose, scales fugaceous, 6 mm, thinly membranous and translucent. Plants annual, tufted, often mat-forming, often stoloniferous, sometimes entirely vegetative; rhizomes absent.
Culms

not rooting at tips, terete, 10–40 cm, soft to firm, smooth.

erect, ascending or arching, quadrangular, sulcate, 1–13 cm × 0.1–0.3 mm, soft.
Leaves

distal leaf sheaths proximally brownish or sometimes reddish, distally stramineous to green.

distal leaf sheaths persistent or disintegrating, red-brown, stramineous, green, or mottled red-brown, translucent, apex narrowly acute.
Spikelets

ovoid to oblong-subcylindric, 4–12 × 2–3.5 mm, apex acute to rounded;

proximal scale empty, clasping 1/2 of culm, like floral scales;

subproximal 1 or 2 scales often empty;

floral scales 20–100, 10 per mm of rachilla, entirely stramineous or sometimes red-brown, ovate, (1.5–)2–2.5 × 1.5 mm, apex broadly rounded, entire.

basal spikelets often present, bisexual; often proliferous, ovoid or ellipsoid, laterally compressed when young, but terete at maturity, 2–7 × 1–2.6 mm, acute;

proximal scale empty, often persistent, amplexicaulous, similar to floral scales;

subproximal scale with a flower;

floral scales spirodistichous (superficially appearing ± spiraled), (4–)10–28, 6–9 per mm of rachilla, pale brown, mottled red-brown to purple, ovate or elliptic, 1.3–2.1 × 0.7–1 mm, membranous, midribs green and red-brown, prominent, apex rounded to obtuse.
Flowers

perianth bristles (5–)6(–8), brown, stout, the longer equaling achene or tubercle, retrorsely spinulose;

stamens 3;

anthers brown, 1 mm.

perianth bristles 6, colorless, white, or stramineous, slightly shorter than to equaling achene, spinules retrorse, acute;

stamens 3;

anthers 0.4–0.5 mm;

styles 3-fid.
Achenes

falling with scales, obovoid, angles keeled, 0.8–1 × 0.7–0.8 mm, apex with short neck.

greenish or pale brown or red-brown, often clearly spotted greenish or red-brown, ellipsoid to obovoid, trigonous (or terete?), angles prominent (keeled), 0.6–0.8 × 0.4–0.5 mm, apex constricted proximal to tubercle, smooth.
Tubercles

whitish to brown, mammillate to pyramidal, 0.2–0.3 × 0.3–0.35 mm, 1/3 or less as wide as achene.

red-brown, pyramidal, trigonous, 0.1–0.3 × 0.2–0.4 mm.

Eleocharis albida

Eleocharis minima
Phenology Fruiting summer. Fruiting mid spring–fall.
Habitat Coastal saltmarsh edges, sloughs, beaches, dune depressions, ditches Freshwater, sandy and peaty shores of lakes, muddy areas
Elevation 0 m (0 ft) 0–400 m (0–1300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MD; MS; NC; NM; SC; TX; Mexico; Bermuda
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; MD; TX; Mexico; South America; West Indies; Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In most spikelets, the bright brown stigmas contrast strikingly with the stramineous floral scales. We have not seen vouchers for H. K. Svenson’s (1937) reports of Eleocharis albida from Virginia. The collections we have seen from Maryland are from the 1800s.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Eleocharis minima is most often confused with E. bicolor and E. baldwinii (see comments under 33. E. bicolor). Although floral scales in E. minima often superficially appear to be spirally disposed, in reality they are spirodistichous, ± decussate, while in E. baldwinii they are strictly distichous in one plane. The number of floral scales per millimeter is much greater in E. minima than in E. baldwinii.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 23, p. 99. FNA vol. 23, p. 97.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Eleocharis > sect. Eleocharis > ser. Albidae Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Eleocharis > sect. Eleocharis > ser. Tenuissimae
Sibling taxa
E. acicularis, E. aestuum, E. ambigens, E. atropurpurea, E. baldwinii, E. bella, E. bernardina, E. bicolor, E. bifida, E. bolanderi, E. brachycarpa, E. brittonii, E. cancellata, E. cellulosa, E. coloradoensis, E. compressa, E. cylindrica, E. decumbens, E. diandra, E. elliptica, E. elongata, E. engelmannii, E. equisetoides, E. erythropoda, E. fallax, E. flavescens, E. geniculata, E. intermedia, E. interstincta, E. kamtschatica, E. lanceolata, E. macrostachya, E. mamillata, E. melanocarpa, E. microcarpa, E. minima, E. montana, E. montevidensis, E. nana, E. nigrescens, E. nitida, E. obtusa, E. obtusetrigona, E. occulta, E. ovata, E. pachycarpa, E. palustris, E. parishii, E. parvula, E. quadrangulata, E. quinqueflora, E. radicans, E. ravenelii, E. retroflexa, E. reverchonii, E. robbinsii, E. rostellata, E. suksdorfiana, E. tenuis, E. torticulmis, E. tortilis, E. tricostata, E. tuberculosa, E. uniglumis, E. vivipara, E. wolfii
E. acicularis, E. aestuum, E. albida, E. ambigens, E. atropurpurea, E. baldwinii, E. bella, E. bernardina, E. bicolor, E. bifida, E. bolanderi, E. brachycarpa, E. brittonii, E. cancellata, E. cellulosa, E. coloradoensis, E. compressa, E. cylindrica, E. decumbens, E. diandra, E. elliptica, E. elongata, E. engelmannii, E. equisetoides, E. erythropoda, E. fallax, E. flavescens, E. geniculata, E. intermedia, E. interstincta, E. kamtschatica, E. lanceolata, E. macrostachya, E. mamillata, E. melanocarpa, E. microcarpa, E. montana, E. montevidensis, E. nana, E. nigrescens, E. nitida, E. obtusa, E. obtusetrigona, E. occulta, E. ovata, E. pachycarpa, E. palustris, E. parishii, E. parvula, E. quadrangulata, E. quinqueflora, E. radicans, E. ravenelii, E. retroflexa, E. reverchonii, E. robbinsii, E. rostellata, E. suksdorfiana, E. tenuis, E. torticulmis, E. tortilis, E. tricostata, E. tuberculosa, E. uniglumis, E. vivipara, E. wolfii
Synonyms Chaetocyperus jamesonii, Chaetocyperus polymorphus, Chaetocyperus viviparus, E. durandii, E. jamesonii, E. minima var. ambigua, E. oropuchensis, E. savannarum, E. subtilis, E. tenuissima, E. villaricensis, E. wrightiana, Isolepis ambigua
Name authority Torrey: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York. 3: 304. (1836) Kunth: Enum. Pl. 2: 139. (1837)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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