Eleocharis ovata

Ovate spikerush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: annual · Native

Ovate spikerush is a California native annual found in the central coast and eastern Sierra Nevada regions in fresh drying lake shore sands at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering during summer and fall, this delicate plant produces tiny flowers in compact spikes less than 8 millimeters long. Growing in tufted clusters with thin cylindrical stems 2 to 35 centimeters tall, it forms dense, low-growing colonies. Its leaf sheaths are firm and persistent, with subtle obtuse tips featuring a minute tooth-like projection less than 0.2 millimeters long. The small fruit is smooth, rounded, and accompanied by 5 to 7 perianth bristles that extend slightly beyond the flat, adherent tubercle.

Habitat: Rare in California. Fresh drying soil (sand) of lake shores

Bloom period: Summer-fall

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: CCo, SNE

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