Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Eleocharis acicularis is a species of spikesedge known by the common names needle spikerush and dwarf hairgrass. It has a circumboreal distribution and it can also be found throughout the rest of the Americas. It lives in Australia, where it was probably an introduced species. This is an annual or perennial spikesedge with long, grasslike stems to about 15 centimeters in height, shorter in bog conditions, from a creeping rhizome. In shallow water it will form short spikes of tiny flowers amongst flat overlapping leafs. The tiny flowers are less than five millimeters in diameter and are borne at the tip of each stem in single, sharply pointed, lanceoloid spikelets up to about six millimeters long. This is a plant of marshes, vernal pools, and bogs, and it is also used as an aquarium plant. It thrives with plenty of light and a high concentration of carbon dioxide.

Plant type

Grass

Size

6 - 8 in Tall

Form

Upright

Growth rate

Moderate

Calscape icon
Color

White

Flowering season

Summer

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Water

High

Soil drainage

Standing

Soil description

Prefers loamy or clay soils. Grows poorly in sandy soils.

Site type

Marshes, meadows, riverbanks and vernal pools

Plant communities

Coastal Sage Scrub, Lodgepole Forest, Red Fir Forest, Sagebrush Scrub, Valley Grassland, Yellow Pine Forest, Wetland-Riparian

Birds
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 2 likely

Confirmed Likely

Thopeutis forbesellus