''Eleocharis geniculata'' is a species of spikesedge known by several common names, including bent spikerush and Canada spikesedge. This is a widespread plant of wet areas in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, and some

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> It is an annual spikesedge growing to a maximum height of about 40 centimeters. It has a few straw-colored leaves and many thin erect stems. The stems hold

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s of rounded spikelets each containing at least 10 tiny flowers. The flowers are covered with dark greenish-brown

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. The fruit is a shiny purple-brown

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

not more than a millimeter long.Flora of North America, ''Eleocharis geniculata'' (Linnaeus) Roemer & Schultes in J. J. Roemer et al., Syst. Veg. 2: 150. 1817.
/ref>

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
geniculata Flora of Northern America Flora of Australia Flora of Asia Flora of Africa Flora of Southern America Flora of Madagascar Flora of the Pacific Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Cyperaceae-stub