Eleocharis flavescens is a perennial flowering plant species called bright green spikerush, pale spike-rush, or wrinkle-sheathed spike-rush;[1] it is a member of the sedge family, Cyperaceae. It is a clump-forming species that also spreads into colonies. It is a small species that looks similar to other Spikerush species. It is native to temperate North America, the West Indies, and South America.[1]
Eleocharis flavescens is strictly a wetland species found in bogs, brackish or salt marshes and flats, floodplain, marshes, shores of rivers or lakes.[2]
There are two varieties.[1]
Eleocharis flavescens var. olivacea (Torr.) Gleason: is found along shorelines in eastern North America along the Atlantic coast and inland south of the Great Lakes to Minnesota.[3] It is a short caespitose plant with biconvex, green to dark brown, achenes.[3] The achenes have a two-cleft style and bristles that are as long or longer than the achene.[3] The scales of the achene are rounded with round tips and have a green midrib.[3] In Minnesota it reaches its most westerly distribution and it is listed as a Threatened species because of its rarity.[4] It is a wetland species found in only a few locations in Minnesota but this may be due to under collecting because the species is small and looks like other species. In Minnesota it has been found growing on a mucky lakeshore, in a mixed forest, and along a muddy shoreline of a peat pond.[3]
Eleocharis flavescens var. flavescens: with red-brown to dark brown ripe achenes.[1] It grows in southern and western USA, the West Indies, and South America.[1]