Eleocharis obtusa

Blunt spike rush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: annual · Native

Blunt spike rush is a California native annual found in northwestern California, the Sierra Nevada, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, and central coastal regions in fresh shores, marshes, seepages, and stream beds at elevations below 1,600 meters. Flowering from late spring to fall, this plant produces small, inconspicuous flowers in slender spikes 5 to 13 millimeters long. Growing in tufted clusters with thin cylindrical stems 3 to 50 centimeters tall, it forms dense, delicate patches in wet environments. Its leaf sheaths are firm and persistent, with an obtuse to acute tip featuring a subtle tooth-like projection less than 0.3 millimeters long. The fruit is small and smooth, with 5 to 7 delicate perianth bristles that typically extend beyond the flat, adherent tubercle.

Habitat: Fresh shores, marshes, seepages, stream beds, disturbed places

Bloom period: Late spring-fall

Elevation: < 1600? m

Bioregions: NW, SN, ScV/n SNF, CCo

California counties: Trinity, Humboldt, Marin, Siskiyou, Tuolumne, Los Angeles, Yuba, Butte, Plumas, Nevada, Sacramento, Sierra, Modoc, Mariposa, Lake, Shasta, San Benito, Placer, San Luis Obispo

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