Participant Info

Species

Eleocharis acicularis [Chaetocyperus acicularis] [Clavula acicularis] etc.

Family

Cyperaceae

CommonName

needle spikerush, least spikerush

Presence

yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1930

LatestDate

2013

Ecosystem

aquatic, basin, foothill, montane, ruderal

Geobotanical

Garitas, SSanjuans, UBasin, LBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

Del Norte

PhotoRecords

Comments

NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. Needle spikerush has been collected frequently from the Watershed, from the basin on up into the lower montane. Habitat for Eleocharis acicularis is somewhat varied, sometimes found in muddy edges of ponds, streams, lakes, and reservoirs, sometimes in standing water. It is also grows in dry beds, persisting when water dries up. The habitats can also be wet meadows. The species has been recorded from all states of the USA. It follows the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico, but only in two locations down river in Texas, one at the Gulf of Mexico. Note that taxonomists have had trouble placing this species, having proposed at least ten different genera for it in the past.

Annotation