Participant Info

Species

Eleocharis palustris [Bulbostylis palustris] [Chlorocharis palustris] [Clavula palustris] etc.

Family

Cyperaceae

CommonName

common spikerush, creeping spikerush, marsh spikerush

Presence

yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1873

LatestDate

2025

Ecosystem

basin, foothill, montane, ruderal

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, NCristos, UBasin, LBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache, Archuleta

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Baca, Monte Vista, Russell Lakes, San Luis Lakes

Other Localities

Alamosa (town)

PhotoRecords

YES Mary E. McDonald, Conejos Co, 7 miles NW of Fox Creek, 6 and 30 June 2025

Comments

Common spikerush has been, in fact, the most commonly collected Eleocharis in the Watershed by far. Most of the locations for Eleocharis palustris are in the Basins, wet meadows and marshes and along irrigation ditches. But the species ranges upward in elevation through the foothills and into the montane, always in mesic habitats, sometimes half submerged at the margins of ponds and lakes—much more commonly in the west ranges of the Valley than in the east. This world-wide spikerush has been recorded from nearly every county in the USA except for those in states of the Deep South (and none in Florida). It follows the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico and down through Texas to the Gulf of Mexico.

Annotation