Eleocharis radicans (A. Dietr.) Kunth, Cyperaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Eleocharis acicularis (L.) Roem. & Schult. var. radicans (Poir.) Britton; Eleogiton radicans A. Dietr.; Scirpus radicans Poir.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: rooted spikerush

Habit:  sedge

Description:  "Perennials, forming mats, stolons slender; culms pale green, soft, spongy, filiform, 3-8 cm tall, ca. 0.3 mm in diameter.  Sheaths pale, membranous, 0.5-2 cm long, fugacious.  Spikelets 5-12-flowered, greenish white, ovoid, 3-4 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide, acute; glumes greenish white or occasionally faintly tinged brown, lanceolate-ovate, 1.2-1.5 mm long, acute to subacute, the keel green; bristles 4, nearly white, very slender, retrorsely spinulose, longer than the achene; style base depressed-conical, minute; stigmas 3.  Achenes yellow, narrowly obovoid, trigonous, 0.6-0.7 mm long, finely cancellate with several rows of horizontally oblong cells"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1403).

"This species is closely related to Eleocharis acicularis, from which it differs in its much smaller anthers (0.3 vs. 1 mm long) and pale glumes"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1403).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in taro paddies, along streams, and in marshes, 20-1,220 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1403).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Central and southern United States and Mexico"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1403).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2000) (p. 12) Voucher cited: C. Imada 99-30 (BISH) "In wetland taro paddy".
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1403) Voucher cited: Forbes 777.K (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1403)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1403)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  Adventive in Puerto Rico (GRIN).

Additional information:
Additional online information about Eleocharis radicans is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Eleocharis radicans as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Eleocharis radicans may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2000. New Hawaiian plant records for 1999. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1999. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 63:9-16.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).