Schoenus aculeatus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 42. 1753.

Culms prostrate or ascendent, glabrous, 5–40 cm tall. Leaf sheaths loose and enlarged, shorter than internodes; leaf blades continuous with sheath, linear-lanceolate, flat or conduplicate, 2–8 × 0.1–0.5 cm, adaxial surface scabridulous, abaxial surface smooth, margins involute, apex acicular. Inflorescence subtended by enlarged inflated uppermost sheaths, capitate to ovoid, as wide or wider than long, 0.4–0.9 × 0.8–1.3 cm, rachis obsolete. Spikelets yellowish, 3.5–4.5 mm; glumes unequal, scabrid or ciliate on keel, obtuse; lower glume linear, 2.5–3 mm; upper glume lanceolate, 3–3.5 mm; lemma longer than glumes, 3.5–4.5 mm, acute; palea equaling or slightly longer than lemma, 1-veined or vein obsolete. Anthers 2, 1–1.3 mm. Grain oblong or obovoid, ca. 2 mm. Fl. and fr. May–Sep. 2n = 16, 18, 54.

This species is an indicator of saline and alkaline soils and is a good fodder plant.

River banks, ditches, other damp places on saline and alkaline soils. Anhui, Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Yunnan [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia, C Europe, Mediterranean region; introduced in S Africa].