Eleocharis acicularis var. acicularis

Needle spike rush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Needle spike rush is a California native perennial found in the Central California Floristic Province and North Coast Ranges in fresh wet soils and deeply submersed habitats at elevations up to 3,300 meters. Flowering from late spring to summer, this plant produces small white to green flowers clustered in delicate spikes. Growing with slender stems up to 60 centimeters tall, often with three to four distinct angles, it forms dense clusters in wet environments. Its narrow, grass-like leaves are minimal, with the stem serving as the primary photosynthetic structure. The small fruits are distinctively elongated, measuring twice as long as they are wide.

Habitat: Common. Fresh wet soil to deeply submersed

Bloom period: Late spring-summer

Elevation: < 3300 m

Bioregions: CA-FP, MP

California counties: Butte, Amador, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, Alpine, Calaveras, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kern, Lake, Los Angeles, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Plumas, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Madera, Sacramento, Lassen, Yuba, Napa, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Sierra, Placer, Yolo, Monterey

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.