Eleocharis quadrangulata |
Eleocharis torticulmis |
|
---|---|---|
four-angle spikerush, square-stem spike-rush, square-stem spikesedge |
California twisted spikerush, twist-stem spikerush |
|
Habit | Plants perennial; rhizomes 1.5–4 mm thick, soft to hard, longer internodes 3–8 cm, scales 5–10 mm, tubers absent. | Plants perennial; rhizomes 1.5–2 mm thick, scales persistent, 7–9 mm, thinly papery, sometimes fibrous; resting buds unknown; caudices present, hard, 3 mm thick. |
Culms | acutely quadrangular, (30–)45–105 cm × (1–)2–5.4 mm, soft to firm, internally spongy, transverse septa incomplete; plants never forming filiform, flaccid culms. |
erect, markedly spirally twisted, markedly obliquely contracted near spikelet, when dry often with to 6 broad, rounded ridges on each side, greatly compressed, 3–4 times as wide as thick, 20–40 cm × 1.5–2.5 mm, firm; culm tufts not proximally bulbous. |
Leaves | distal leaf sheaths persistent, membranous, apex narrowly acute to acuminate, sometimes prolonged into a bladelike portion to 8 cm. |
distal leaf sheaths stramineous to medium (or dark) brown, papery, apex often dark brown to reddish, broadly obtuse. |
Spikelets | not proliferous, (15–)20–76 × 3–5(–6) mm; rachilla joints bearing obscure winglike remnants of floral scales; proximal scale empty, amplexicaulous, (1–)2.2–5.4 mm; floral scales (28–)45–135, 2–3 per mm of rachilla, stramineous to pale brown, usually with pale to dark brown submarginal band, midrib region sometimes greenish, broadly obovate to ovate, (4–)4.5–6.2 × 2.8–5 mm, subcartilaginous, apex rounded to obtuse. |
6–8 × 2–3 mm; proximal scale empty, 3–4 mm, shorter than to equaling spikelet; floral scales 8–10 per spikelet, 3.5–5 × 2 mm. |
Flowers | perianth bristles 6–7, whitish to brown, slender, often markedly unequal, shorter than achene or some equalling tubercle, sparsely retrorsely spinulose to smooth; anthers stramineous to red-brown, 2.3–2.9 mm; styles 3-fid, sometimes 2-fid. |
|
Perianth | bristles 0–5, unequal, rudimentary to equaling achene, the shorter stout, smooth or nearly so, the longer slender, densely spinulose. |
|
Achenes | yellow or pale green to brown or purplish, biconvex, obovoid to obpyriform, 1.8–3 × 1.3–2 mm, almost smooth to markedly sculptured at 10–15X, each face with 19–38 rows of almost linear, transversely elongated cells, which are sometimes isodiametric at achene base, apex often constricted to neck 0.3–0.4 mm wide. |
stramineous to medium brown, thickly trigonous, 1.75–2.75 × 1–1.25 mm; beak 0.3–0.6 mm. |
Tubercles | dark brown or whitish, deltoid to high-pyramidal or lanceoloid, 0.7–1.5 × 0.4–1 mm, often spongy. |
0.25–0.6 × 0.3–0.55 mm. |
Anthers | 1.8 –3 mm. |
|
Eleocharis quadrangulata |
Eleocharis torticulmis |
|
Phenology | Fruiting early summer–winter. | Fruiting summer (Jun–Jul). |
Habitat | Shallow water of fresh lake and pond shores, marshes | Fens, wet meadows, vernal ponds |
Elevation | 10–600 m (0–2000 ft) | 1100 m (3600 ft) |
Distribution |
AR; CA; CT; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MI; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; SC; TX; VA; WI; WV; ON; s to c Mexico
|
CA |
Discussion | We have not seen voucher specimens for the reports of Eleocharis quadrangulata from Kansas. Plants with greenish achenes, longer bristles, and longer anthers than the average are known from Tennessee. The tubercles of Eleocharis quadrangulata are often spongy as in E. obtusetrigona. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Of conservation concern. Eleocharis torticulmis is known only from the botanically rich Butterfly Valley in Plumas County. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 120. | FNA vol. 23, p. 115. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Limnochloa | Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Zinserlingia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Scirpus quadrangulatus, E. quadrangulata var. crassior, Scirpus albomarginatus, Scirpus marginatus | |
Name authority | (Michaux) Roemer & Schultes: in J. J. Roemer et al., Syst. Veg. 2: 155. (1817) | S. G. Smith: Novon 11: 250, figs. 2, 4E–I. (2001) |
Web links |
|