Cyperaceae - Eleocharis palustris (L.) Roem. & Schult.

(of Scirpus palustris L.) Linnaeus, C. (1753). Species plantarum, exhibentes plantas rite cognitas ad genera relatas cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas. Vol 1. Salvius, Stockholm., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358012
page(s): 47 [details]

Descriptive notes

Description Rhizomes thick, long-creeping. Stems 8–95 cm × 0.6–4 mm, sparsely to densely tufted, terete, smooth to indistinctly...

Description Rhizomes thick, long-creeping. Stems 8–95 cm × 0.6–4 mm, sparsely to densely tufted, terete, smooth to indistinctly longitudinally ridged; stomata guard cells (Figure A1) shorter than adjacent subsidiary cells. Leaves reduced to bladeless sheaths at base of stem, up to 25 cm long, yellowish to dark reddish-brown; apex ± truncate. Inflorescence a single, terminal, ovoid to lanceoloid-ovoid spikelet, 5–30 × 3–6 mm, usually with up to 70 flowers. Glumes 1.5–3.5 × 2–2.5 mm (from middle of spikelet), ovate, reddish-brown with pale brown midrib and narrow hyaline margins; apex obtuse to acute; the 2 lowest glumes empty, subequal, each surrounding not more than 2/3 of the base of the spikelet. Flowers bisexual; perianth bristles 0–4, shorter to longer than nut; stamens 3, with anthers 1.6–2.5 mm; stigmas 2. Nuts (1.2–)1.5–2.0 × 1.3–1.5 mm, obovate, biconvex, yellowish to dark brown, finely punctate; style-base conical, not confluent with nut but strongly constricted beneath the cone base to form a rim. [details]

Description Perenne; rizoma de entrenudos ± largos, de (0,6)1,5-2,5(4) mm de diámetro, rojizo o pardo, cubierto de escamas...

Description Perenne; rizoma de entrenudos ± largos, de (0,6)1,5-2,5(4) mm de diámetro, rojizo o pardo, cubierto de escamas translúcidas cuando joven. Tallos (6)11-60(100) cm × (0,5)3-(3,5) mm, rectos o curvados, estriados cuando secos, hasta con 20 haces vasculares, en numerosas ocasiones bruscamente estrangulados en la base de la espiguilla, aparentemente huecos al estar rellenos de parénquima aéreo, ± robustos. Vainas herbáceas, frecuentemente purpúreas hacia la base, a veces deshilachadas; la superior truncada horizontalmente, con un minúsculo mucrón terminal obscuro. Espiguilla (4)6-20(30) mm, de contorno ovado a lanceolado en la antesis, ovoidea, subcilíndrica o de contorno lanceolado, raras veces estrechamente cónica o subglobosa en la fructificación, con (8)20-70(80) flores. Glumas (1,7)2,5-4(6) mm, en disposición helicoidal, lanceoladas, de ápice agudo a redondeado, de color pajizo, pardo-rojizo o pardo obscuro, con una banda central verdosa y márgenes escariosos; las 2 inferiores, (1)2-3(4) mm, estériles – excepcionalmente la superior de las 2, fértil –, de ápice subagudo a redondeado, muchas veces con una ancha quilla central verdosa y herbácea, más raramente de textura y coloración similar a las demás glumas, que por lo general rodean cada una la mitad de la espiguilla en su base. Estambres 1-(3); anteras 1,5-2,5 mm, de amarillas a anaranjadas, rara vez blanquecinas, apiculadas. Aquenios (0,8)1,2-2 × (0,5)1-1,5(1,7) mm, de contorno obovado a obpiriforme, biconvexos o casi cilíndricos, de color amarillento dorado, raro vez pardo u oliváceo, mates o algo brillantes; estilopodio (0,25)0,5-1(1,25) × (0,25)0,5-0,75(1) mm, de textura esponjosa, manifiestamente estrangulado en la base, de forma mamiforme a deltoide, pero entonces sus vértices son claramente redondeados, sésil, blanquecino o pardo, en ocasiones con brillo iridiscente; cerdas periánticas (3)4(5), iguales o mayores que el aquenio, retrorso-escábridas, parduscas, doradas o blanquecinas. 2n = 16*, n = 8*, 9*, 14*, 16*, 18*, 20*. [details]

Description Plants perennial, mat-forming; rhizomes evident, long, 1.5–4.5 mm thick, firm to hard (or soft), cortex persistent,...

Description Plants perennial, mat-forming; rhizomes evident, long, 1.5–4.5 mm thick, firm to hard (or soft), cortex persistent, longer internodes 10–35 mm, scales usually persistent, 6–20 mm, membranous, sometimes slightly fibrous. Culms terete or slightly compressed, often with 8–30 blunt ridges when dry, 30–115 cm × 0.5–5 mm, firm to soft, internally spongy. Leaves: distal leaf sheaths persistent or sometimes disintegrating, often splitting adaxially, red or blackish proximally, green or red distally, not inflated, not callose, membranous to papery, apex broadly obtuse to acute, tooth absent. Spikelets ovoid to lanceoloid, 5–25 × 3–7 mm, apex acute to obtuse; proximal scale clasping 2/3 or sometimes 3/4 of culm, entire; subproximal scales 1–2, empty; floral scales often spreading in fruit, 30–100, 4–8 per mm of rachilla, brown, midrib regions mostly stramineous to green, ovate to lanceolate, 3–5 × 1.5–2.5 mm, apex entire, acute or subacute, often carinate in distal part of spikelet. Flowers: perianth bristles 4(–5), sometimes absent, medium brown to stramineous, slender to stout, much shorter than achene to equaling tubercle, rarely to 2 times as long as achene; stamens 3; anthers dark yellow to stramineous, 1.5–2.2 mm; styles 2-fid, very rarely some 3-fid. Achenes not persistent, stramineous or dark brown, biconvex, angles obscure, obovoid to obpyriform, 1.1–2 × 1–1.5 mm, apex rounded, neck absent or mostly short (to long), smooth at 30X, sometimes finely rugulose at 10–20X and with 20 or more ridges in vertical series. Tubercles brown to whitish, pyramidal to mamillate, as high as wide to 2 times higher, 0.3–0.7 × 0.35–0.7 mm. 2n = 16, 17, 36. [details]

Taxonomic remark Source in seed data: wcs Update namepublishedIn from Syst. Veg. 2: 151 1817 to Syst. Veg., ed. 15 bis 2: 151 (1817),...

Taxonomic remark Source in seed data: wcs Update namepublishedIn from Syst. Veg. 2: 151 1817 to Syst. Veg., ed. 15 bis 2: 151 (1817), information provided by Alan E. on email Jun. 07 2021 More details could be found in [details]

Taxonomic citation

Cyperaceae Working Group. (2025). [see How to cite]. Global Cyperaceae Database. Eleocharis palustris (L.) Roem. & Schult.. Accessed at: https://cyperaceae.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=593121 on 2026-01-09

Taxonomic edit history

Date

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2012-01-03 09:25:43Z

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2023-09-05 06:47:53Z

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Larridon, Isabel

2024-12-10 11:47:54Z

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2025-10-08 07:56:20Z

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Marco Rosado, Nuria

Licensing

The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

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Nomenclature

original description (of Scirpus palustris L.) Linnaeus, C. (1753). Species plantarum, exhibentes plantas rite cognitas ad genera relatas cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas. Vol 1. Salvius, Stockholm., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358012
page(s): 47 [details]

basis of record PESI - Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure, available online at http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/ [details]

basis of record Plants of the World Online (POWO). , available online at https://powo.science.kew.org/ [details]

Taxonomy

taxonomy source Jermy, A.C.; Simpson, D.A.; Foley, M.J.Y.; Porter, M.S. (2007). Sedges of the British Isles. 554 pp. Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland, United Kingdom. [details] Available for editors

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taxonomy source Luceño, M., Castroviejo, S., Jiménez-Mejías, P. (2008). Cyperaceae. In: Castroviejo, Luceño, M., Galán, A., Jiménez-Mejías, P., Cabezas, F., Medina, L. (eds). Flora iberica. Plantas vasculares de la Península Ibérica e Islas Baleares. Vol. XVIII. Madrid: CSIC., available online at https://bibdigital.rjb.csic.es/records/item/12958-flora-iberica-vol-18-cyperaceae-pontederiaceae?offset=, http://www.floraiberica.es/PHP/familias_lista_.php?familia=Cyperaceae [details]

Other

context source (RAS) Australian Antarctic Data Centre. , available online at https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/biodiversity/ [details]

additional source Li, B. Z.; Zhang, S. R. (2024). An updated species checklist and taxonomic synopsis of Cyperaceae in China. <em>Biodiversity Science.</em> 32(7): 24106., available online at https://doi.org/10.17520/biods.2024106 [details] Available for editors

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Present

Inaccurate

Introduced: alien

Containing type locality

Syntype (of Scirpus palustris L.) L 0052726 [details]

From editor or global species database

Translation Perennial; rhizome with ± long internodes, (0.6)1.5–2.5(4) mm in diameter, reddish or brown, covered with translucent scales when young. Culms (6)11–60(100) cm × (0.5)3–(3.5) mm, straight or curved, striate when dry, with up to 20 vascular bundles, often abruptly constricted at the base of the spikelet, apparently hollow due to being filled with aerenchyma, ± robust. Leaf sheaths herbaceous, frequently purplish toward the base, sometimes frayed; the upper one horizontally truncated, with a minute dark terminal mucro. Spikelet (4)6–20(30) mm, ovate to lanceolate in outline at anthesis, ovoid, subcylindrical or lanceolate, rarely narrowly conical or subglobose in fruit, with (8)20–70(80) flowers. Glumes (1.7)2.5–4(6) mm, helically arranged, lanceolate, with acute to rounded apex, straw-colored, reddish-brown or dark brown, with a greenish central band and scarious margins; the two lower glumes (1)2–3(4) mm, sterile—exceptionally the upper of the two fertile—with subacute to rounded apex, often with a broad, green, herbaceous keel, more rarely similar in texture and color to the remaining glumes, which generally each surround half of the spikelet at the base. Stamens 1–(3); anthers 1.5–2.5 mm, yellow to orange, rarely whitish, apiculate. Achenes (0.8)1.2–2 × (0.5)1–1.5(1.7) mm, obovate to obpyriform in outline, biconvex or nearly cylindrical, golden-yellow in color, rarely brown or olivaceous, dull or slightly glossy; stylopodium (0.25)0.5–1(1.25) × (0.25)0.5–0.75(1) mm, spongy, distinctly constricted at the base, mammiform to deltoid in shape, with rounded vertices, sessile, whitish or brown, sometimes iridescent; perianth bristles (3)4(5), equal to or longer than the achene, retrorsely scabrid, brownish, golden or whitish. 2n = 16*, n = 8*, 9*, 14*, 16*, 18*, 20*. [details]

Definitions