Eleocharis ovata |
Eleocharis vivipara |
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ovate spike-rush, ovoid spike-rush, ovoid spikesedge, éléocharide ovale |
sprouting spike-rush, umbrella hairgrass, viviparous spike-rush |
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Habit | Plants perennial, short-rhizomatous, forming dense clumps, often entirely vegetative; rhizomes caudexlike, ascending, internodes and scales hidden by crowded culms and sheaths, 0.5 mm thick. | |
Culms | 2–35 cm × 0.3–1 mm. |
often arching, often sering as stolons, broadly elliptic, (4–)7–38(–45) cm × (0.1–)0.3–0.7 mm, soft to firm. |
Leaves | apex of distal leaf sheath obtuse to acute, tooth to 0.2 mm. |
distal leaf sheaths persistent or disintegrating, yellowish to pale brown, sometimes mottled or wholly red-brown, membranaous to papery, apex acute to narrowly obtuse. |
Spikelets | ovoid, 2–8 × 2–4 mm, apex acute (to blunt); floral scales 25–100+, ca. 10 per mm of rachilla, orange-brown, rarely stramineous, ovate, 1.5–2 × 1 mm, midribs often keeled in distal part of spikelet, apex rounded to subacute. |
basal spikelets absent; usually proliferous, ovoid to ellipsoid to linear or terete, 3.3–9.6 × 1.2–2.3 mm, apex acute; proximal scale empty, persistent, amplexicaulous, similar to floral scales (usually slightly longer, midrib broadly green); subproximal scale with a flower; floral scales spiraled, 5–25, 4–8 per mm of rachilla, pale brown, usually spotted, streaked or mottled red-brown to purple, midribs green or green and red-brown, elliptic to obovate, 1.8–2.7 × 1–1.5 mm, membranous to chartaceous (papery), midrib evident to prominent, apex rounded to obtuse. |
Flowers | perianth bristles present, rarely absent, (5–)6–7, brown, fairly slender, exceeding tubercle; stamens 2(–3); anthers brown, 0.3 mm; styles 2-fid or some 3-fid. |
perianth bristles 5–6, red-brown (proximally often white), shorter than to equaling tubercle, rarely longer, 0.9–1.3(–2) mm; spinules sparse, retrorse, sharply acute; stamens 3; anthers yellow, 0.8–1.8 mm; styles 3-fid. |
Achenes | 0.75–1 × 0.6–0.85 mm. |
gray or greenish, obovoid or obpyriform, trigonous, angles very prominent, 0.6–0.9 × 0.55–0.8 mm, apex constricted proximal to tubercle, finely honeycomb-reticulate at 10–20X, each face with 20 or more rows of evident enlarged cells. |
Tubercles | deltoid, 0.3–0.5 × 0.3–0.5 mm, 3/5 of to as high as wide, 1/3–2/3 as high and 1/2–3/4 as wide as achene. |
whitish, gray, brown, or greenish black, pyramidal, trigonous, 0.2–0.5 × 0.4–0.5 mm. |
2n | = 10. |
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Eleocharis ovata |
Eleocharis vivipara |
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Phenology | Fruiting summer–fall. | Fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Fresh, often drying shores, lake and stream beds, bogs, tidal estuaries, disturbed places | Sandy and peaty soils, ditches, pond margins, shallow waters bordering pine-flatwoods and pine-palmetto scrub |
Elevation | 10–700 m (East), 1500–2000 m (Arizona) (0–2300 ft (East), 4900–6600 ft (Arizona)) | 0–80 m (0–300 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CT; IA; IL; IN; KY; MA; ME; MI; MN; MO; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; AB; BC; NB; NL; NS; ON; PE; QC; Eurasia
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AL; FL; GA; LA; NC; SC; VA
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Discussion | Although Eleocharis ovata has often been confused with E. obtusa, B. M. H. Larson and P. M. Catling (1996) showed that these species may be distinguished by non-overlapping widths of the tubercles, at least in Canada. The records of E. ovata in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island are based on B. M. H. Larson and P. M. Catling (1996) and the records in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington are based on D. M. Hines (1975). Eleocharis ovata probably also occurs in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Most specimens of Eleocharis vivipara are from Florida. Identification of vegetative (often aquatic) specimens is sometimes tentative. Eleocharis vivipara is often confused with E. microcarpa and E. brittonii, and sometimes with E. baldwinii. The red-spotted band at the sheath apex and the gray, cancellate achenes are characteristic of E. vivipara. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 103. | FNA vol. 23, p. 93. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Eleocharis > sect. Eleogenus > ser. Ovatae | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Eleocharis > sect. Eleocharis > ser. Tenuissimae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Scirpus ovatus, E. obtusa var. ovata, E. ovata var. heuseri | Chlorocharis vivipara, E. curtisii |
Name authority | (Roth) Roemer & Schultes: in J. J. Roemer et al., Syst. Veg. 2: 152. (1817) | Link: Hort. Berol. 1: 283. (1827) |
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