FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Recognizable by flattened, thick, upright leaf blades, often twirling; leaves of individual species vary considerably in size, from 5 cm to 1 m. Identification to species requires examination of mature seeds and fruit capsules.
Description: Medium or small height perennial herb (0.3 to 0.6 m), with narrow linear leaves all emerging from a fibrous or bulbous base.
Leaves: Leaves linear, flat blades, often twirling, attached at base.
Flowers/Fruit: Three yellow, rounded petals born on solitary, brown, cone-like spikes with overlapping scales. Fruit is capsule with tiny seeds. Generally flowering and fruiting June to September, but varies widely by species.
Habit and Range: Sunny spots in standing water at pond edges, wet sandy ditches, marshes, pine wetlands. Nearly all species have C values of 6 to 9, indicating their fidelity to higher quality habitats. More common in the Coastal Plain, but a few species are found in other ecoregions.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Like Xyris spp. (yellow-eyed grasses), Eleocharis spp. (spikerushes) have single cone-like seedheads at the ends of stems, but no flattened leaf blades. Eleocharis spp. never have petals on flowering heads and tend to be much smaller than Xyris spp., with finer stems.
Click here to view Eleocharis obtusa.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
