Eleocharis quinqueflora (Hartmann) O. Schwarz
few-flowered spike-rush (fewflower spikerush)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
few-flowered spike-rush (fewflower spikerush)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from short, stout rhizomes, also producing more elongate, slender stolons with thickened terminal buds; stems clustered, thread-like, grooved, (5) 10-30 (40) cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths brownish to straw-coloured below, cylindrical, not flaring upwards; blades lacking.
Flowers:
Spikes solitary, terminal, lanceolate to egg-shaped, 4-8 mm long, 3- to 9-flowered, somewhat flattened.
Fruits:
Scales 2.5-5.5 mm long, the two lower ones larger than the others, the lowest one subtending a flower, egg-shaped, blunt, dark brown with translucent margins and a lighter midrib; perianth bristles 4 to 6, equalling or surpassing the achenes, or more or less reduced; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, or plano-convex, equally or unequally 3-angled, greyish brown, 3-ribbed, cellular roughened, 1.9-2.6 mm long including the short (0.6 mm), barely differentiated, nosecone-like tubercles that are confluent with the bodies of the achenes and that do not form distinct apical caps on the achenes.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Eleocharis quinqueflora
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1258 | 7 | 1870 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
2 | 0 | 19 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
322 | 30 | 354 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 5 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
56 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(1), CWH(3), ESSF(25), ICH(3), IDF(4), MH(1), MS(6), SBPS(2), SBS(9), SWB(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Bog margins and wet (often calcareous) sites in the steppe and montane zones (rarely subalpine or alpine); infrequent in and E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains in S BC, rare northward; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, PA, OH, IN, IL, NE, NM, AZ, CA and MX; Greenland, Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Eleocharis bernardina Munz & I.M. Johnst.
Eleocharis pauciflora (Lightf.) Link
Eleocharis pauciflora var. bernardina (Munz & Johnston) Svens.
Eleocharis pauciflora var. fernaldii Svens.
Eleocharis quinqueflora subsp. fernaldii (Svens.) HultΘn
Eleocharis quinqueflora subsp. quinqueflora
Eleocharis quinqueflora var. bernardina (Munz & Johnston) S. Gonzßlez & P.M. Peterson
Scirpus pauciflorus Lightf.
Scirpus quinqueflorus F.X. Hartmann