Eleocharis torticulmis

California twisted spikerush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

California twisted spikerush is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in northern Sierra Nevada Mountains in wet meadow fens within mixed-conifer forest at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering during summer, this plant produces small, delicate spikes with pale brown to green flowers. Growing with spirally twisted stems 20 to 40 millimeters tall that are flat and obliquely contracted near the tip, it forms dense stem tufts with a hard underground caudex. Its distal leaf sheaths are firm and persistent, with obtuse tips, and the plant develops distinctive three-sided fruits with a beak-like tip. The spikerush has a weak rhizome with terminal buds approximately 10 millimeters long and 5 millimeters wide.

Habitat: Fen (wet meadow) in mixed-conifer forest

Bloom period: Summer

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: n SNH.

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