Eleocharis is a virtually cosmopolitan genus of 250 or more species of flowering plants in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words ἕλειος (heleios), meaning "marsh dweller," and χάρις (charis), meaning "grace." Members of the genus are known commonly as spikerushes or spikesedges. The genus has a geographically cosmopolitan distribution, with centers of diversity in the Amazon Rainforest and adjacent eastern slopes of the South American Andes, northern Australia, eastern North America, California, Southern Africa, and subtropical Asia. The vast majority of Eleocharis species grow in aquatic or mesic habitats from sea level to higher than 5,000 meters in elevation.
Eleocharis vivipara is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by several common names, including umbrella hairgrass, sprouting spikerush, and viviparous spikerush. It is native to the southern United States from eastern Texas to eastern Virginia. It takes the form of a clump of thin stems. A spike of flowers appears at the tip of the stem. The plant may also reproduce by growing a plantlet and runners.
Eleocharis atropurpurea is a species of spikesedge known by the common name purple spikerush. This is an aquatic plant native to much of. It also has a wide distribution in temperate regions of North and South America and Asia. It is present in Europe, where it may be an introduced species for the most part.
Eleocharis geniculata is a species of spikesedge known by several common names, including bent spikerush and Canada spikesedge. This is a widespread plant of wet areas in the Americas, Asia, Africa, Australia, Madagascar, and some Pacific Islands. It is an annual spikesedge growing to a maximum height of about 40 centimeters. It has a few straw-colored leaves and many thin erect stems. The stems hold inflorescences of rounded spikelets each containing at least 10 tiny flowers. The flowers are covered with dark greenish-brown bracts. The fruit is a shiny purple-brown achene not more than a millimeter long.
Eleocharis macrostachya is a species of spikesedge known by the common name pale spikerush.
Eleocharis obtusa is a species of spikesedge known by the common name blunt spikerush. This plant is widely distributed across Canada and the United States, where it grows in wet areas such as riverbanks and moist forest floors. It is also a weed of rice paddies, especially when the rice plants are young sprouts. This is an annual spikesedge approaching half a meter in maximum height. It has many green cylindrical stems which are erect but weak and spongy. There may be thin, grasslike leaves toward the base of the plant, which are generally straw-colored. Atop each stem is a rounded or oblong spikelet containing at least ten flowers, each covered by an oval-shaped brown bract.
Eleocharis pachycarpa is a species of spikesedge known by the common name black sand spikerush. This plant is native to southern South America but it grows in other parts of the world as an introduced species, such as Australia and the US states of California and Nevada.
Eleocharis quinqueflora is a species of spikesedge known by the common names fewflower spikerush and few-flowered spike-rush. It is widespread across Europe, North Africa, northern Asia, and North America. There are also isolated populations in Argentina and Chile.
Eleocharis radicans is a species of spikesedge known by the common name rooted spikerush. This aquatic or semi-aquatic plant is native to the Americas as far north as Virginia and northern California. It grows in wet places such as streams, lakes, bogs, and moist meadows, where it roots on soaked ground or floats in the water. This is a rhizomatous, mat-forming perennial with thread-thin, spongy stems. It may have several thin leaves. The stems are topped with papery spikelets about half a centimeter long at maximum size and containing 4 to 12 flowers, each covered with a light-colored bract. The fruit is a minute white or yellow achene less than a millimeter long.
Eleocharis palustris, the common spike-rush, creeping spike-rush or marsh spike-rush, is a species of mat-forming perennial flowering plants in the sedge family Cyperaceae. It grows in wetlands in Europe, North Africa, northern and central Asia and North America. Eleocharis palustris is not easily distinguished from other closely related species and is extremely variable worldwide itself. The species epithet palustris is Latin for "of the marsh" and indicates its common habitat.
Eleocharis bolanderi, commonly known as Bolander's spikerush, is a species of spikesedge. It is native to the western United States from Colorado west to Oregon and California. It grows in wet spots in several types of habitat, including mountain meadows and springs. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing erect, hairless stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall. The narrow, wispy leaves often have purple or reddish speckles and purplish tinting around the bases. The inflorescence is an oval-shaped spikelet at the tip of the stem under a centimeter long and made up of several dark brown, sometimes purple-tinged flowers.
Eleocharis montevidensis is a species of spikesedge known by the common name sand spikerush. It is a widespread coastal plant native to the Americas. It grows in moist, sandy spots in many habitat types, including lakes, riverbanks, wet meadows, and springs. It has a disjunct distribution, in North America and South America.
Eleocharis parishii is a species of spikesedge known by the common name Parish's spikerush.
Eleocharis parvula is a species of spikesedge known by the common names dwarf spikerush, small spikerush and hairgrass in aquaria. It is a plant of brackish and saltwater habitat, such as marshes and mudflats. It is a perennial herb growing tufts of spongy, compressible stems not more than 10 centimeters tall. The plant grows from a tuber which is J-shaped or horseshoe-shaped, a characteristic that helps in the identification of the species. The inflorescence is an oval-shaped spikelet just 2 or 3 millimeters long, made up of several tiny flowers.
Eleocharis quadrangulata is a species of spikesedge known by the common names square-stem spikerush and four-angled spikerush. It is native to eastern and central North America, with additional populations in California, Oregon, and west-central Mexico. It grows in and around freshwater in lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb growing one half to one meter in height. The spongy, compressible stem is a few millimeters wide and sharply four-angled. The inflorescence is a single spikelet 1.5 to 7.5 centimeters long which is made up of several flowers covered in light brown bracts.
Eleocharis rostellata is a species of spikesedge known by the common name beaked spikerush. It is widespread across North America, with isolated populations in Argentina.
Rorippa palustris, marsh yellow cress, is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is widespread and native to parts of Africa, and much of Asia, Europe and Eurasia, North America and the Caribbean. It can also be found in other parts of the world as an introduced species and a common weed, for example, in Australia and South America. It is an adaptable plant which grows in many types of damp, wet, and aquatic habitat. It may be an annual, biennial, or perennial plant, and is variable in appearance as well.
Eleocharis torticulmis is a rare species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names twisted spikerush and twist-stem spikerush. It is endemic to Plumas County, California, where it is known from two locations within a kilometer of each other in the Butterfly Valley Botanical Area. It grows in open wet habitat such as fens and meadows. It was separated from Eleocharis suksdorfiana and described to science as a new species in 2001.
Eleocharis bifida is a species of spikesedge known by the common name glade spikerush. It is native to the Eastern United States, where it is endemic to the Interior Low Plateau and very small part of the Ridge and Valley ecoregions. This is mostly in Kentucky and Tennessee, extending into southern Indiana, northern Alabama, and northwestern Georgia. It is found only in wet areas in cedar glades, such as pools and streamsides. This narrow habitat requirement is the reason for it being considered vulnerable.
Eleocharis microcarpa, common names small-fruited spikesedge, spike-rush, small-fruited spike-rush and tiny-fruited spike-sedge, is a plant in the Eleocharis genus found in North America.
