Eleocharis bella |
Eleocharis erythropoda |
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beautiful spikerush, delicate spikerush, pretty spikerush |
bald spike-rush, red-footed spikesedge, red-stem spikerush, redfoot spike-rush, spikesedge, éléocharide à tiges rouges |
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Habit | Plants annual, rarely perennial, usually densely tufted; rhizomes rarely evident, 0.2–0.3 mm thick, internodes 1–5 mm, scales not evident. | Plants perennial, mat-forming; rhizomes evident, long, 0.5–1.5 mm thick, soft to firm, cortex often breaking loose, longer internodes 5–30 mm, scales often fugaceous, 4–8 mm, membranous, not fibrous. |
Culms | often ascending or spreading, 4-angled or sometimes terete, sometimes sulcate, 1–7 cm × 0.2–0.3 mm, soft to firm. |
terete, often with 8–12 blunt ridges when dry, 8–80 cm × 0.3–1.4 mm, firm to soft, internally spongy. |
Leaves | sheaths stramineous, distal sheaths often splitting abaxially, slightly inflated distally, oblique, apex acute. |
distal leaf sheaths persistent, not splitting, proximally red (to stramineous), distally green to stramineous, usually inflated, often callose, membranous to papery, apex often red-brown, broadly obtuse to subacute, tooth sometimes present, to 0.1 mm. |
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. |
ovoid to lanceoloid or nearly cylindric, 3–18 × 2–3(–4) mm, apex acute (to obtuse); proximal scale amplexicaulous, entire; subproximal scale with flower; floral scales often spreading in fruit, 15–50, 4–5 per mm of rachilla, medium brown to sometimes red-brown, midrib regions mostly stramineous to green, in proximal part of spikelet ovate, apex rounded, in distal part lanceolate, apex entire, acute, 2–3.5 × 1.5–1.7 mm, mostly carinate. |
Flowers | perianth bristles absent; anthers 0.3–0.5 mm. |
perianth bristles 4 or absent, light brown to stramineous, stout, usually equal, equaling achene to slightly exceeding tubercle; stamens 3; anthers dark yellow to stramineous, 1–1.8 mm, apiculate; styles 2-fid. |
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. |
not persistent, dark yellow, stramineous, or dark brown, obovoid to obpyriform, biconvex, angles obscure, 0.9–1.6 × 0.7–1.2 mm, apex rounded, neck absent to long, smooth at 30X, or sometimes finely rugulose at 10–30X with 20 or more horizontal ridges in a vertical series. |
Tubercles | grayish, mostly appressed, pyramidal, often depressed, 0.1–0.2 × 0.1–0.25 mm. |
brown to whitish, pyramidal, much higher than wide to, lower than wide, 0.35–0.65 × 0.2–0.6 mm. |
2n | = 16, 18, 19, 20. |
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Eleocharis bella |
Eleocharis erythropoda |
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Phenology | Fruiting spring–summer. | Fruiting summer. |
Habitat | Bare, often drying soil of stream alluvium, lake margins, wet meadows | Non-calcareous or calcareous fresh or brackish shores, marshes, meadows, fens, disturbed places |
Elevation | 200–2900 m (700–9500 ft) | 0–2300 m (0–7500 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; WA; Mexico (Chihuahua)
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AK; AR; AZ; CO; CT; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NT; ON; QC; SK
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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.) |
Eleocharis erythropoda is extremely variable. Intermediates with E. palustris variant b are common in the region of sympatry in the East, and with E. macrostachya variant b in the West, and E. erythropoda is sometimes difficult to distinguish from E. uniglumis. Eleocharis calva Torrey is an invalid name. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 110. | FNA vol. 23, p. 75. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Scirpidium | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Eleocharis > sect. Eleocharis > ser. Eleocharis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. acicularis var. bella, E. acicularis var. minima | Scirpus glaucus |
Name authority | (Piper) Svenson: Rhodora 31: 201. (1929) | Steudel: Syn. Pl. Glumac. 2: 76. (1855) |
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