Flora of North America species comparison

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Eleocharis radicans

creeping spikerush, radical fiber optic spikerush, root spikerush
Habit Plants perennial, mat-forming; rhizomes 0.2–0.5 mm thick, longer internodes 5–10 mm, scales not evident.
Culms

obscurely to ca. 10-ribbed when dry, terete, 1–12 cm × 0.4–1 mm, very soft, spongy.
Leaves

distal leaf sheaths fugaceous, colorless, translucent, apex blunt.
Spikelets

ovoid, 2–3 × 1–1.5 mm, apex acute;

scales 5–15, 5–7 per mm of rachilla, colorless to stramineous, rarely slightly reddish, medially broadly greenish to colorless, faintly 3–5-veined, often ovate, membranous, fleshy;

proximal scale 2–2.5 × 0.7 mm, other scales 1.5–2 × 0.7 mm, midrib obscure to slightly keeled, apex acute to rounded.
Flowers

perianth bristles equaling achene;

anthers yellow to brown, 0.3–0.5 mm.
Achenes

brownish, angles plus longitudinal ridges ca. 7, narrowly obovoid, 2 times longer than wide, 0.75–0.9 × 0.35–0.4 mm, trabeculae ca. 50, distinct.
Tubercles

brown, pyramidal, 0.15 × 0.15–0.2 mm.

Eleocharis radicans
Phenology Fruiting spring–winter (Apr–Dec).
Habitat Stream alluvium, lake margins, meadows, seeps, bogs
Elevation 100–1400 Ariz., Calif., Fla., La., Mich., Okla., Tex., Va.
Distribution
from FNA
HI; n Mexico; West Indies; Central America (El Salvador); South America (Argentina, Chile)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 23, p. 112.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae > Eleocharis > subg. Scirpidium
Sibling taxa
E. acicularis, E. aestuum, E. albida, E. ambigens, E. atropurpurea, E. baldwinii, E. bella, E. bernardina, E. bicolor, E. bifida, E. bolanderi, E. brachycarpa, E. brittonii, E. cancellata, E. cellulosa, E. coloradoensis, E. compressa, E. cylindrica, E. decumbens, E. diandra, E. elliptica, E. elongata, E. engelmannii, E. equisetoides, E. erythropoda, E. fallax, E. flavescens, E. geniculata, E. intermedia, E. interstincta, E. kamtschatica, E. lanceolata, E. macrostachya, E. mamillata, E. melanocarpa, E. microcarpa, E. minima, E. montana, E. montevidensis, E. nana, E. nigrescens, E. nitida, E. obtusa, E. obtusetrigona, E. occulta, E. ovata, E. pachycarpa, E. palustris, E. parishii, E. parvula, E. quadrangulata, E. quinqueflora, E. ravenelii, E. retroflexa, E. reverchonii, E. robbinsii, E. rostellata, E. suksdorfiana, E. tenuis, E. torticulmis, E. tortilis, E. tricostata, E. tuberculosa, E. uniglumis, E. vivipara, E. wolfii
Synonyms Scirpus radicans, E. acicularis var. radicans, E. lindheimeri
Name authority (Poiret) Kunth: Enum. Pl. 2: 142. (1837)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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