Eleocharis acicularis (L.) Roem. & Schult.

vernacular needle spikerush — species · Cyperaceae

USDA: ELAC
GBIF: 2717570
Rank: species

needle spikerush (Eleocharis acicularis) — Platephotograph · Věra KafkováCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Graminoid
Duration: Annual, Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Cyperaceae Juss.
Genus: Eleocharis

§2a

Native status, by region

AK Alaska Native
CAN Canada Native
GL Greenland Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native
PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Native
SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native

§2b

County-level range

· 16 counties across 2 states/territories

Legend Native · 16 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: Medium
Salinity: Medium
Anaerobic: Medium
CaCO₃: Low
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -23 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 110 min.
Precipitation: 14–50 in/yr
pH range: 4.5–7
Root depth: 10 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 0.7 ft
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Mid Summer
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 900,000
Propagation: seed, bare root, sprigs

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 16 counties across 2 states/territories.

Montana view state ↗ 13 N ▾

Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ELAC ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2717570 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z