Twist Stem Spikerush

Eleocharis torticulmis is known only from the botanically rich Butterfly Valley in Plumas County.

Plants perennial; rhizomes 1.5–2 mm thick, scales persistent, 7–9 mm, thinly papery, sometimes fibrous; resting buds unknown; caudices present, hard, 3 mm thick. Culms erect, markedly spirally twisted, markedly obliquely contracted near spikelet, when dry often with to 6 broad, rounded ridges on each side, greatly compressed, 3–4 times as wide as thick, 20–40 cm × 1.5–2.5 mm, firm; culm tufts not proximally bulbous. Leaves: distal leaf sheaths stramineous to medium (or dark) brown, papery, apex often dark brown to reddish, broadly obtuse. Spikelets 6–8 × 2–3 mm; proximal scale empty, 3–4 mm, shorter than to equaling spikelet; floral scales 8–10 per spikelet, 3.5–5 × 2 mm. Perianth bristles 0–5, unequal, rudimentary to equaling achene, the shorter stout, smooth or nearly so, the longer slender, densely spinulose. Anthers 1.8 –3 mm. Achenes stramineous to medium brown, thickly trigonous, 1.75–2.75 × 1–1.25 mm; beak 0.3–0.6 mm. Tubercles 0.25–0.6 × 0.3–0.55 mm.

Calif.

Fruiting summer (Jun–Jul).

Fens, wet meadows, vernal ponds; of conservation concern; 1100m.

Eleocharis torticulmis is a rare species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names twisted spikerush and twist-stem spikerush. It is endemic to Plumas County, California, where it is known from two locations within a kilometer of each other in the Butterfly Valley Botanical Area. It grows in open wet habitat such as fens and meadows. It was separated from Eleocharis suksdorfiana and described to science as a new species in 2001.

This perennial spikerush grows from a tiny rhizome and a small, hard caudex. It produces a tuft of erect stems 20 to 40 centimeters tall. Each stem is spirally twisted and contracted near the tip, becoming somewhat flattened. The spikelet is under a centimeter long and contains up to 10 tiny flowers.