Eleocharis interstincta |
Eleocharis obtusa |
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knotted spikerush |
blunt spike-rush, blunt spikesedge, broad spike spikerush, egg-shape spike-rush, éléocharide obtuse |
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Habit | Plants perennial; rhizomes 2–4 mm thick, firm, longer internodes 3–7.5 cm, scales 5 mm, tubers absent. | |
Culms | terete, 45–100 cm × (3.2–)5–9.4 mm, soft to firm, sometimes septate-nodulose proximally, not distally, internally hollow with complete transverse septa, closer together near the spikelet, evident externally; plants never forming filiform, flaccid culms. |
3–50(–90) cm × 0.2–2 mm. |
Leaves | distal leaf sheaths persistent, membranous to thinly papery, apex acute to acuminate. |
apex of distal leaf sheath obtuse to acute, tooth to 0.3 mm. |
Spikelets | not proliferous, (20–)40–62 × 4–7 mm; rachilla joints bearing prominent wing-like remnants of floral scales; proximal scale empty, amplexicaulous, (3–)3.5–5 mm; floral scales 115–220, 1–3 per mm of rachilla, stramineous to pale brown, usually with pale to dark brown submarginal band, midrib region sometimes greenish, obovate to broadly oblong, (4–)4.5–5 × 2.8–4 mm, cartilaginous, often membranous toward margins, margins broadly translucent, membranous, apex rounded to subacute. |
broadly ovoid (to ellipsoid or lanceoloid), apex rounded (to acute), (2–)5–13 × (2–)3–4 mm; floral scales 15–150+, 8–20 per mm of rachilla, orange-brown (to stramineous), elliptic, 1.5–2.5 × 1–1.5 mm, midribs seldom keeled, apex broadly rounded. |
Flowers | perianth bristles 6–8, stramineous, stout, flattened, subequal, exceeding achene, to 2.9 mm, coarsely spinulose; anthers stramineous to reddish, 2.5–5 mm; styles 2-fid or 3-fid. |
perianth bristles (5–)6–7, rarely 0, brown, stout, slightly to usually greatly exceeding tubercle; stamens usually 3; anthers brown to yellow, 0.3–0.6 mm; styles usually 3-fid and 2-fid in same spikelet. |
Achenes | stramineous to golden-yellow or reddish brown or gray, obovoid to obpyriform, biconvex or nearly plano-convex, often with abaxial longitudinal ridge, 1.4–1.8(–2) × 1.1–1.4 mm, markedly sculptured at 10–15X, each face with 23–37 rows of transversely elongated cells, the longitudinal walls separating the cells often prominent, apex with short neck 0.7–0.8 mm wide. |
0.9–1.2(–1.3) × 0.7–0.9 mm. |
Tubercles | dark brown, lamelliform, slightly higher than wide, 0.7–1.1 × 0.5–0.7 mm. |
deltoid 0.35–0.5 × (0.4–)0.5–0.8 mm, 1/3–2/3 as high as wide, 1/3–1/2 as high and 2/3–9/10 as wide as achene. |
2n | = 10. |
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Eleocharis interstincta |
Eleocharis obtusa |
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Phenology | Fruiting late spring–winter. | Fruiting summer–fall. |
Habitat | Fresh ponds, lakeshores, marshes, springs, ditches, canals | Fresh shores, marshes, disturbed places |
Elevation | 10–500 m (0–1600 ft) | 10–1600 m (0–5200 ft) |
Distribution |
FL; OK; TX; Mexico; Central America; e South America
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AL; AR; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; HI; BC; NS; ON; PE; QC
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Discussion | Contrary to statements in the literature, sectioning reveals that the culm septa are closer together near the spikelet than in the rest of the culm in both Eleocharis interstincta and E. equisetoides. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Extremely uncommon plants of Eleocharis obtusa without perianth bristles may be called E. obtusa var. peasei (type from New Hampshire). Robust plants with distinct caudices, floral scales 2.5 mm, and achenes 1.2–1.3 mm (Eleocharis obtusa var. gigantea Fernald) are rare (specimens seen from the Washington-British Columbia border [type], Arkansas, and the Hawaiian Islands). Dwarf plants (E. obtusa var. jejuna Fernald, type from Maine), with unusually small achenes and floral scales, and tubercles often less than 0.5 mm wide, are occasional in the East and are easily confused with E. ovata and E. aestuum. A few specimens are intermediate with E. engelmannii. Eleocharis obtusa is sometimes treated as conspecific with E. ovata, which consistently differs in its mostly 2-fid styles, mostly two stamens, and especially its narrower tubercles (B. M. H. Larson and P. M. Catling 1996). Eleocharis macounii Fernald has been treated as a synonym of E. obutsa (H. K. Svenson 1957) but is more probably a hybrid between E. intermedia and E. obtusa (P. M. Catling and S. G. Hay 1993; see 34. E. intermedia). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 119. | FNA vol. 23, p. 105. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Limnochloa | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Eleocharis > sect. Eleogenus > ser. Ovatae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Scirpus interstinctus | Scirpus obtusus, E. obtusa var. ellipsoidales, E. obtusa var. gigantea, E. obtusa var. jejuna, E. obtusa var. peasei |
Name authority | (Vahl) Roemer & Schultes: in J. J. Roemer et al., Syst. Veg. 2: 149. (1817) | (Willdenow) Schultes: Mant. 2: 89. (1824) |
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