Flora of North America species comparison

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Eleocharis bella

beautiful spikerush, delicate spikerush, pretty spikerush
Habit Plants annual, rarely perennial, usually densely tufted; rhizomes rarely evident, 0.2–0.3 mm thick, internodes 1–5 mm, scales not evident.
Culms

often ascending or spreading, 4-angled or sometimes terete, sometimes sulcate, 1–7 cm × 0.2–0.3 mm, soft to firm.
Leaves

sheaths stramineous, distal sheaths often splitting abaxially, slightly inflated distally, oblique, apex acute.
Spikelets

ovoid, 1.5–4 × 0.8–2 mm, apex acute;

floral scales 4–15, 8 per mm of rachilla, colorless or reddish brown, midrib region green, ovate-lanceolate, not folded lengthwise, 1–1.5 × 0.5–0.7 mm, mibrib obscure to somewhat keeled, apex narrowly acute to acuminate, slightly recurved.
Flowers

perianth bristles absent;

anthers 0.3–0.5 mm.
Achenes

with angles and longitudinal ridges ca. 6–10, rather prominent, broadly ovoid, less than 2 times longer then wide, (0.55–)0.65–0.75 × 0.3–0.4 mm, apex blunt, trabeculae distinct, 20–30.
Tubercles

grayish, mostly appressed, pyramidal, often depressed, 0.1–0.2 × 0.1–0.25 mm.

Eleocharis bella
Phenology Fruiting spring–summer.
Habitat Bare, often drying soil of stream alluvium, lake margins, wet meadows
Elevation 200–2900 m (700–9500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; WA; Mexico (Chihuahua)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Eleocharis bella and E. acicularis seem to be amply distinct; putative hybrids are unknown. The occasional plants of E. bella with evident rhizomes, which include the type, are otherwise identical to plants apparently without rhizomes. Eleocharis bella is very similar to E. cancellata. There is an Illinois collection from Peoria in 1901, from the alluvial banks of the Illinois River.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 23, p. 110.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Scirpidium
Sibling taxa
E. acicularis, E. aestuum, E. albida, E. ambigens, E. atropurpurea, E. baldwinii, 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
Synonyms E. acicularis var. bella, E. acicularis var. minima
Name authority (Piper) Svenson: Rhodora 31: 201. (1929)
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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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