Name: |
- Eleocharis, from the Greek, `eleios
(heleios) , "of the marsh or meadow", and caris
(charis) , "joy; grace; kindness; beauty", sometimes a
reference to a specific plant.
- palustris, from the Latin, paluster, "marshy, boggy"
- Common Name, from the shape of the leafless stems and its wide
distribution.
- Other common names include: Creeping Spike Rush, Pale Spike Rush,
Almindelig Sumpstrå (Dan), Rantaluikka, Suoluikka
(Fin), Bioran Coitcheann (Gaelic), Gewöhnliche Sumpfbinse
(Ger), Votasef (Isl), Sumpsevaks (Nor), Bahnička Močiarna
(Slovak), Knappsäv, Nordknappsäv, Nordlig Knappsäv,
Bottnisk Knappsäv, Sydknappsäv, Sydlig Knappsäv (Swe)
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Taxonomy: |
- Kingdom Plantae, the Plants
- Division Magnoliophyta, the Angiosperms (flowering plants)
- Class Liliopsida, the Monocotyledons
- Subclass Commelinidae
- Order Cyperales
- Family Cyperaceae, the Sedges
- Genus Eleocharis, the Spike Rushes, over
100 difficult-to-distinguish species worldwide.
- Taxonomic Serial Number: 40019
- Also known as Eleocharis calva var. australis, Eleocharis
macrostachya, Eleocharis mamillata, Eleocharis palustris var.
australis, Eleocharis palustris var. major, Eleocharis perlonga,
Eleocharis smallii var. major, Eleocharis xyridiformis
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Description: |
- A perennial herb forming dense tufts
- Leaves reduced to sheaths
- Stems upright, smooth, unbranched, to 2' tall.
- Roots fix nitrogen; creeping rhizomes
- Flowers one per scale, with several scales per spikelet, each
spikelet lanceoloid to ovoid, usually pointed at the tip, up to 1½"
long; brown spikelets borne at the top of the stems. Flowers
June-August.
- Scales ovate to obovate, usually rounded at the tip, brown,
1/16"-1/10" long.
- Fruit a yellow achene; obovoid, about 1/20" long, capped
by a small, conspicuous tubercle, subtended by 3-6 barbed bristles.
- Seedhead brown, scaley, and conical.
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Identification: |
- Identifiable as a Spike Rush by its leaf-less stems
- Distinguished from other North Country Spike Rushes by the presence
of rhizomes and its flat achenes with a conspicuous tubercle.
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Distribution: |
- Saskatchewan west to British Columbia, north into Alaska, Yukon Territory,
the Northwest Territories, south into parts of the Pacific Northwest
States to southern California, east across the Great Plains into the
southeastern states, and as far north as Minnesota and Illinois. Native
to Hawaii
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Habitat: |
- Moist soils to shallow waters
- Grows in marshes, roadside ditches, and along streambanks, lakeshores,
riverbottoms, and in wet meadows and flood areas
- Grows in a variety of soils, including those derived from alluvial
parent materials, alkaline, sand loams, sedimentary peat, organic loams,
the Quaternary group, Histosols, Mollisols, and Entisols
- Usually top-killed by fire, it can sprout from rhizomes following
the burn.
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Associates: |
- Trees: Tammarack (Larix
laricina), Black Spruce (Picea
mariana)
- Shrubs: Bog Birch (Betula
pumila), Leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne
calyculata), Sweet Gale (Myrica
gale), Willow (Salix spp.)
- Herbs: Tufted Hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa), Horsetails
(Equisetum spp.), Blue Flag Iris (Iris
versicolor), Rushes (Juncus spp.), Sedges (Carex
spp.), Bulrush (Scirpus spp.), Cattails (Typha spp)
- Ground Covers: Sphagnum Mosses (Sphagnum spp.)
- Mammals: Moose (Alces alces)
- Birds: The achenes are eaten by waterfowl.
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History: |
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Uses: |
- Important as food and cover for waterfowl.
- Of little or no value to livestock
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Reproduction: |
- Regenerates primarily by rhizomes, colonizing areas not conducive
to seedling establishment.
- Seeds are always present in the seed bank and can germinate in standing
water.
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Propagation: |
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Cultivation: |
- Hardy to USDA Zone 3 (average minimum annual temperature -40ºF)
- Cultural Requirements
- Sun full; shade intolerant
- Minimum frost-free days - 100
- Soil moist, pH 4-8
- Fertilization minimal
- Size 6"-12"W x 12"-18"H
- Growth rate moderate
- Available by mail order from specialty suppliers or at local nurseries
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Links: |
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Comments: |
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Last updated on
26 February, 2004
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