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Looks Like Grass, But Its Not Gallery

Cyperaceae, Eleocharis - Spikerush

Waves of Grain Index - Not Grass

Cyperaceae - Sedge family, Spikerush Genus

Sand Spikerush (Giant Hairgrass) Eleocharis montevidensis (Heleocharis montevidensis)

Plant grows in sand near a small natural spring.  Round reed is 6"-12" tall but can grow to 30" tall.  Spikelet is 5/16" tall with yellowish flowers.  Grows from rhizomes so becomes dormant in drought.  Can be planted with up to 2" over the crown but prefers marsh.  Quickly makes rhizome runners.  Flower head oval.  Flat tipped leaf, tip purplish turning straw-colored.  Likes full sun.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, May & June 2005, April 2007

(Native of Texas - Taylor, Brown)

Cyperaceae - Sedge family, Spikerush Genus

Dwarf Spikerush (Hairgrass, Little-head Spikerush) Eleocharis parvula

Looks like grass with small heads.  Lives at waters edge.  Prefers clay soil.

We built a new stock tank in red clay.  I purchased this pot as a test hoping it would help filter runoff and stabilize the banks.  I separated the rhizomes with a few to several culms attached.  The segments were shoved into the mud at the edge.  It survived deep drought and flood.  It quickly spread in a dense colony.  We took plugs and disbursed them around the tank.  This works great!

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, May 2007, May 2008

(Native of Texas - Taylor, Brown)

Other Species in My Area

Needle Spikerush Eleocharis acicularis var. acicularis

Tiny 4" tall.  Similar to E. reverchonii.  Leaves are needle-like and square-tipped with reddish basal sheaths. 

(Native of Texas - Taylor)

Annual Spikerush (Pantropic Spikerush) Eleocharis geniculata

Grows in clumps, tiny to 16" tall.  No leaf blades, just pointed sheaths.  Ovoid spikelet, 3/16" tall and nearly as wide.

(Native of Texas - Taylor)

Pale Spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya

Spear-point not much wider than stem, brown, white flowers.

(Native of Texas - Taylor, Brown)

Waves of Grain Index - Not Grass