Plants perennial, never stoloniferous or proliferating from spikelets. Rhizomes creeping 1–1.5 mm thick. Culms terete 0.3–1 mm wide. Leaves: distal leaf sheaths persistent, firmly membranous to papery, apex acute to acuminate or sometimes blunt, tooth absent. Spikelets terete; basal spikelets absent. Floral scales cartilaginous to papery, rarely membranous. Styles 3-fid. Achenes pale brown to blackish, trigonous, smooth at 30X. Tubercles distinct from achene apex in color, texture, and form.

Species 2 (1 in the flora): United States, Mexico, Bermuda, Central America.

Lower Taxon

• Eleocharis albida Torrey