Eleocharis bolanderi |
Eleocharis nigrescens |
|
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Bolander's spikerush |
black spikerush |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, densely tufted; rhizomes caudexlike, mostly hidden by culms and roots, short, 1.5–3 mm thick, hard, cortex persistent, internodes very short, scales not evident. | Plants usually annual, tufted, not stoloniferous; rhizomes absent. |
Culms | subterete, often with to 6 prominent ridges when dry, sulcate, 10–30 cm × 0.3–0.5 mm, firm to rigid, spongy. |
sometimes ascending, subterete, elliptic, or polygonal, (1–)3–7.5(–9) cm × 0.2–0.5 mm, very soft. |
Leaves | distal leaf sheaths persistent, not splitting, proximally brown, red, or stramineous, distally stramineous, green or reddish, papery, apex sometimes reddish, obtuse, rarely callose, tooth absent. |
distal leaf sheaths persistent or disintegrating, colorless, stramineous or green, spotted red-brown to purple, membranous, apex narrowly acute. |
Spikelets | ovoid, 3–8 × 2–3 mm, apex acute to obtuse; proximal scale amplexicaulous, entire; subproximal scale with flower; floral scales spreading in fruit, 8–30, 4–5 per mm of rachilla, dark brown to blackish, midrib regions often stramineous or greenish, ovate to lanceolate, 2–3 × 1.5 mm, apex entire, acute, often carinate in distal part of spikelet. |
basal spikelets absent; never proliferous, ovoid or ellipsoid, terete, 2–4.7(–8.5) × 1–2 mm, apex acute to blunt; proximal scale empty or with flower, persistent, clasping 1/2 of culm, similar to floral scales (but 1.1–1.7 mm, midrib region broadly green); subproximal scale with a flower; floral scales spiraled, 10–30(–100), 10–16 per mm of rachilla, colorless, whitish, or pale brown, mottled red-brown to purple, midribs pale brown or green, ovate or elliptic, 1–1.2 × 0.45–0.6 mm, membranous, midrib prominent, apex rounded. |
Flowers | perianth bristles 3–6, whitish to stramineous, stout to slender, often unequal, from rudimentary to 1/2 of achene length; stamens 3; anthers dark yellow to brown, 0.9–1.4 mm; styles 3-fid. |
perianth absent; stamens 1; anthers 0.2–0.3 mm; styles 3-fid. |
Achenes | falling with scales, stramineous, rarely dark brown, ovoid to obpyriform, slightly to greatly compressed-trigonous, rarely thickly lenticular, angles prominent or abaxial angle obscure, 0.9–1.2 × 0.65–0.8 mm, apex narrowly to broadly truncate, neck short, often compressed more than body, at 20–30X finely rugulose with more than 20 horizontal ridges in a vertical series or reticulate or cancellate. |
colorless (appearing green-brown from enclosed seed) or whitish, sometimes spotted red-brown, obovoid, trigonous, angles prominent, 0.5–0.6 × 0.33–0.4 mm, apex constricted proximal to tubercle, smooth. |
Tubercles | whitish to brown, pyramidal, lower than wide, often 3-lobed as viewed from the top, 0.1–0.3 × 0.4–0.65 mm. |
white, gray or pale brown, pyramidal or umbonate, trigonous, 0.1–0.15 × 0.15–0.2 mm. |
Eleocharis bolanderi |
Eleocharis nigrescens |
|
Phenology | Fruiting late spring–summer. | Fruiting summer–winter. |
Habitat | Fresh, often summer-dry meadows, springs, seeps, stream margins | Moist terrestrial sites such as sandy and peaty soils on pond margins, ditches, pine flatwoods |
Elevation | 1000–3400 m (3300–11200 ft) | 0–30 m (0–100 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; CO; ID; NV; OR; UT
|
FL; SC; Mexico; South America; West Indies; Bermuda; Africa |
Discussion | Eleocharis bolanderi is clearly distinct from E. montevidensis, from which it differs in its dense, tufted habit with short, caudexlike rhizomes, its leaf sheaths without a tooth, its achene and tubercle shapes, and its acute floral scales. Specimens of Eleocharis bolanderi without rhizomes or achenes are easily confused with E. decumbens, which often may be distinguished by culms 0.5–2 mm wide, and spikelets with scales sometimes more than 3 mm long. The tubercles of E. bolanderi are usually poorly developed and much lower than wide; in E. decumbens they are usually well developed and about as high as wide. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Usually all the floral scales fall from the rachilla at maturity. The achene epidermis is usually translucent, revealing the brown color of the enclosed seed. Clarification of delimitation of Eleocharis microlepis (Grisebach) D. A. Simpson, E. setifolia, (A. Richard) A. Raynal, and E. nigrescens in the Americas requires further investigation (D. A. Simpson 1988). Specimens from North America treated herein as E. nigrescens seem to agree well with Simpson’s illustration of E. nigrescens; the anther length of 0.2–0.3 mm recorded here is closer to that of E. microlepis. Simpson (pers. comm.) has not examined specimens of either E. nigrescens or E. microlepis from North America, and lists both E. microlepis and E. setifolia from the West Indies and only E. setifolia from South America. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23. | FNA vol. 23, p. 93. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Eleocharis > sect. Eleocharis > ser. Eleocharis | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Eleocharis > sect. Eleocharis > ser. Tenuissimae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. montevidensis var. bolanderi | Scirpidium nigrescens |
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 392. (1868) | (Nees) Steudel: Syn. Pl. Glumac. 2: 77. (1854) |
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