Bent spikerush

Scirpus geniculatus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 48. 1753; Eleocharis capitata R. Brown; E. caribaea (Rottbøll) S. F. Blake; E. dispar E. J. Hill

Plants tufted, without creeping rhizomes. Culms to 45 cm × 0.2–1 mm. Leaves: distal leaf sheaths persistent, firm, distally tightly sheathing, apex acute. Spikelets orbicular to ovoid, 1–9 × 1–4 mm, apex rounded to acute; proximal scale without flower, not amplexicaulous; floral scales to 125, 11–14 per mm of rachilla, tightly appressed, dark red-brown to stramineous, ovate to elliptic, 0.8–3 × 0.6–2(–2.3) mm, membranous to cartilaginous, apex rounded to acute. Flowers: perianth bristles (0–)4–8, typically 7, red-brown, rarely whitish, vestigial to much exceeding tubercle, typically equaling achene, spinules few to dense; styles 2-fid. Achenes brown ripening to black, biconvex, orbicular to obpyriform, 0.5–1.1 × 0.3–0.7 mm, apex rarely constricted proximal to tubercle, very finely reticulate at 40X. Tubercles stramineous to whitish, umbonate to subconic, 0.2–0.4 × 0.2–0.5 mm, apex rounded to acute. 2n = 10.

Fruiting spring–winter (Mar–Dec). Brackish creeks, canal banks, dune depressions, hammocks, irrigation ditches, lakeshores, lagoons, mangrove thickets, maritime mud flats, ditches, salt marshes; 0–1500 m; Ont.; Ala., Ariz., Calif., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., La., Mich., Miss., Nebr., Nev., N.Mex., Ohio, Okla., Pa., Tex.; Mexico; West Indies; Bermuda; Central America; South America; Asia; Africa; Pacific Islands.

The name Eleocharis caribaea (Rottbøll) S. F. Blake is considered by most contemporary authorities to be misapplied (K. L. Wilson 1990). Eleocharis geniculata has been reported from South Carolina; I have not seen a voucher.