| Author | (Willdenow) Schultes | |
| Distribution | A revision paper by Gibbons and McMullen (JBRIT 13: 71-81) has split out E. verrucosa as a full species and treats E. tenuis as having 2 varieties -- pseudoptera and tenuis.
N.S. to WI and SD, south to FL and TX; disjunct to CA. | |
| Abundance | Fairly common in the western Piedmont and northern Mountains. Apparently rare (overlooked?) elsewhere. May form patches via slender horizontal rhizomes. | |
| Habitat | Swamp forests, floodplain forests, montane seepage bogs, wet meadows, roadside ditches. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting June-September. | |
| Identification | Plants often form patches via slender horizontal rhizomes. Its stems are slender, 1-2.5 feet tall, with a slender spikelet at the tip. The seeds are 3-sided and styles are 3-branched. Variety pseudoptera differs from var. tenuis by its sharply 4-angled stems (vs. bluntly angled or smooth). | |
| Taxonomic Comments | As mentioned above, two varieties are found in the state, as recognized by Weakley (2022) -- pseudoptera and tenuis. Note that Weakley also recognizes E. verrucosa as split out by Gibbons & McMullen (2019); see that separate account.
The genus Eleocharis, the spikerushes, are unusual members of the sedge family in that the culms (flowering stems) are round or oval (rarely triangular) in cross-section, rather than triangular in the great majority of our sedges. In addition, leaf blades are absent; just 1-2 basal sheaths are present at the base of the culm. There is a single, cylindrical or narrowly ovoid, spikelet of florets at the culm summit. Details of achene (seed) shape, color, ornamentation, bristle length, and beak (tubercle) shape and size, are critical ID factors. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | | |
| State Rank | S5 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FACW link |
| USACE-emp | FACW link |
