Eleocharis atropurpurea |
Eleocharis cylindrica |
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purple spike-rush |
cylinder spikerush |
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Habit | Plants tufted, without creeping rhizomes. | Plants perennial; rhizomes evident, 1 mm thick, firm, cortex unknown, internodes unknown, scales fugacious, 5 mm, membranous. |
Culms | 2–12(–19) cm × 0.2–0.4 mm. |
terete, often with a few blunt ridges when dry, 20–50 cm × 0.2–0.7 mm, soft, spongy. |
Leaves | distal leaf sheaths firm, distally tightly sheathing, apex acute. |
distal leaf sheaths persistent, not splitting, proximally red or stramineous, distally green, membranous, apex usually reddish, subtruncate to obtuse, not callose, tooth present, to 0.4 mm. |
Spikelets | ovoid to ellipsoid, 2–6(–8) × 1–2.5 mm, apex acute; proximal scale with or without flower, not amplexicaulous; floral scales to 100, 15–19 per mm of rachilla, often loosely appressed, dark red-brown to stramineous, ovate to elliptic, 0.6–1.3 × 0.3–0.7 mm, membranous, apex rounded to acute. |
narrowly lanceoloid, narrowly ovoid, or narrowly cylindric, 4–10 × 1–1.5 mm, apex narrowly acute; proximal scale amplexicaulous or clasping 3/4 of culm, entire; subproximal scale empty or with flower; floral scales spreading in fruit, 20–80, 5–6 per mm of rachilla, orange-brown, midrib regions stramineous, narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 1.5–2 × 0.8 mm, entire, apex acute, not carinate. |
Flowers | perianth bristles (0–)4–6, typically 4, colorless to whitish, vestigial to 1/2 as long as achene, smooth or spinuliferous; styles 2-fid. |
perianth bristles 3–6, stramineous, stout, unequal, rudimentary to less than 1/2 achene length; stamens 3; anthers stramineous, 0.7–1.4 mm; styles 3-fid. |
Achenes | black, obovoid, biconvex, 0.3–0.5 × 0.3–0.4 mm, apex often constricted proximal to tubercle, smooth at 40X. |
falling with scales, stramineous, ellipsoid, compressed-trigonous, angles prominent (keeled), 0.6–0.65 × 0.4–0.45 mm, base narrowed, neck long, smooth at 40X. |
Tubercles | stramineous to whitish, umbonate to subconic, 0.1–0.2 × 0.1–0.2 mm, apex acute. |
brown, pyramidal, as high as wide to greatly depressed, 0.1–0.25 × 0.15–0.2 mm. |
2n | = 20. |
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Eleocharis atropurpurea |
Eleocharis cylindrica |
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Phenology | Fruiting summer–fall (Jun–Sep). | Fruiting spring–summer. |
Habitat | Canal banks, hammocks, irrigation ditches, lake and pond margins, maritime shores, rice fields | Ephemeral pools in old rock quarry |
Elevation | 0–1800 m (0–5900 ft) | 300 m (1000 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; CA; FL; GA; IA; KS; LA; MI; MO; NC; NE; NM; OK; SC; TX; WA; BC; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Europe (naturalized); Asia; Africa; Pacific Islands
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TX; South America (Argentina, Paraguay) |
Discussion | Eleocharis atropurpurea has been reported from Colorado, Montana, and Virginia; I have not seen voucher specimens. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Eleocharis cylindrica is synonymous with E. spegazzinii Barros, which was described from temperate South America (E. R. Guaglianone and O. Ueno 1990). It is very uncommon in North America, where it has been confirmed from Aransas, Burnet, and Cameron counties in Texas; reports from Lubbock and Presidio counties have not been confirmed. The report from New Mexico cannot be confirmed because the specimens lack achenes. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 102. | FNA vol. 23, p. 81. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Eleocharis > sect. Eleogenus > ser. Maculosae | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Eleocharis > sect. Eleocharis > ser. Eleocharis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Scirpus atropurpureus | E. texana |
Name authority | (Retzius) J. Presl & C. Presl: in C. B. Presl, Reliq. Haenk. 1: 196. (1828) | Buckley: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 14: 10. (1863) |
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