Eleocharis vivipara Link

Viviparous spikerush (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Poales > Cyperaceae > Eleocharis

Characteristics

Plants perennial, short-rhizomatous, forming dense clumps, often entirely vegetative; rhizomes caudexlike, ascending, internodes and scales hidden by crowded culms and sheaths, 0.5 mm thick. Culms often arching, often sering as stolons, broadly elliptic, (4–)7–38(–45) cm × (0.1–)0.3–0.7 mm, soft to firm. Leaves: distal leaf sheaths persistent or disintegrating, yellowish to pale brown, sometimes mottled or wholly red-brown, membranaous to papery, apex acute to narrowly obtuse. Spikelets: basal spikelets absent; usually proliferous, ovoid to ellipsoid to linear or terete, 3.3–9.6 × 1.2–2.3 mm, apex acute; proximal scale empty, persistent, amplexicaulous, similar to floral scales (usually slightly longer, midrib broadly green); subproximal scale with a flower; floral scales spiraled, 5–25, 4–8 per mm of rachilla, pale brown, usually spotted, streaked or mottled red-brown to purple, midribs green or green and red-brown, elliptic to obovate, 1.8–2.7 × 1–1.5 mm, membranous to chartaceous (papery), midrib evident to prominent, apex rounded to obtuse. Flowers: perianth bristles 5–6, red-brown (proximally often white), shorter than to equaling tubercle, rarely longer, 0.9–1.3(–2) mm; spinules sparse, retrorse, sharply acute; stamens 3; anthers yellow, 0.8–1.8 mm; styles 3-fid. Achenes gray or greenish, obovoid or obpyriform, trigonous, angles very prominent, 0.6–0.9 × 0.55–0.8 mm, apex constricted proximal to tubercle, finely honeycomb-reticulate at 10–20X, each face with 20 or more rows of evident enlarged cells. Tubercles whitish, gray, brown, or greenish black, pyramidal, trigonous, 0.2–0.5 × 0.4–0.5 mm.
More
Cespitose perennial; stems 1–3 dm, filiform, erect to reclining and commonly proliferous at the tip; sheaths oblique at the orifice; spikelet linear-cylindric to narrowly lanceolate, 3–8 mm, or often proliferous and sterile; scales oblong, obtuse, 2 mm; bristles nearly equaling the achene; style trifid; achene trigonous, obovate, honeycomb-reticulate, scarcely over 1 mm; tubercle small, pyramidal. Swamps on the coastal plain; se. Va. to Fla.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.05 - 0.2
Root system rhizome
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 7-10

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Eleocharis vivipara world distribution map, present in Åland Islands, Georgia, Nicaragua, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:89885-2
WFO ID wfo-0000406355
COL ID 397R4
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Chlorocharis vivipara Eleocharis vivipara Trichophyllum viviparum Eleocharis curtisii Scirpus viviparus