Eleocharis rostellata

Beaked spikerush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Beaked spikerush is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, southern California, Transverse Ranges, San Gabriel Mountains, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert in mineral-rich fens, springs, hot springs, and coastal marshes at elevations from 50 meters below sea level to 2,400 meters. Flowering from late spring to summer, this plant produces small inconspicuous flowers in dense spikelets 5 to 17 millimeters long. Growing in dense mats with stems 20 to 50 centimeters tall, it forms tough, hidden rhizomes approximately 3 millimeters in diameter. Its leaves have persistent sheaths with obtuse to slightly sharp tips, and stems are nearly flat with up to 8 sharp ridges that often root at the tips. The fruit is distinctively 1.5 to 2.5 millimeters long with a characteristic beak-like tip and up to 6 perianth bristles.

Habitat: Uncommon. Mineral-rich fens, springs, hot springs, coastal marshes

Bloom period: Late spring-summer

Elevation: -50-2400 m

Bioregions: NW (exc NCoRH), CaR, CCo, SnFrB, SCo, WTR, SnGb, GB, DMoj

California counties: Siskiyou, San Bernardino, Inyo, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Butte, Kern, Marin, Modoc, Mono, Napa, Orange, San Diego, Sonoma, Ventura, Riverside, Sierra, Fresno, Santa Clara, Alpine, Santa Barbara, Contra Costa, Nevada, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Tulare, Sutter, Lake, Mendocino, Tehama, Humboldt, San Francisco, Merced, Trinity

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