Eleocharis flavescens(Poir.) Urb.

Pale Spike RushWrinkle-sheathed Spike-rushYellow Spikerushyellow spikerush

WFO wfo-0000404139 Accepted WFO 2026-06 5 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–e · 2 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 2 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Eleocharis flavescens, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. a Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / 2020-07-23 / obs. 86287749
Eleocharis flavescens, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. b Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 86287761
Eleocharis flavescens, photographed by Brandon Corder
fig. c Brandon Corder, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 174250107
Eleocharis flavescens, photographed by Brandon Corder
fig. d Brandon Corder, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 174250102
Eleocharis flavescens, photographed by Brandon Corder
fig. e Brandon Corder, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 174250099

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 65 botanical countries

Regions where Eleocharis flavescens is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Argentina Northeast, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, Windward Is. AlabamaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMontanaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaNova ScotiaOhioOntarioPennsylvaniaQuébecSouth CarolinaTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWisconsinWyomingArgentina NortheastBoliviaBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastColombiaCosta RicaCubaEcuadorFrench GuianaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaParaguayPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela DelawareRhode I.BermudaLeeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Eleocharis flavescens, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
California CAL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Montana MNT
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bermuda BER
Bolivia BOL
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Ecuador ECU
French Guiana FRG
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Paraguay PAR
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 56 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -15.7 °C -11.4 °C 16.4 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 22.6 °C 25.4 °C 31.6 °C
Annual rainfall 822 mm 1,091 mm 1,590 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 97 mm 203 mm 320 mm

It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 56 research-grade observations of Eleocharis flavescens that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 52 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Baeothryon flavescens (Poir.) A.Dietr.
  • Eleocharis albivaginata Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis albivaginata var. flaccida Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis albivaginata var. humilis Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis albivaginata var. macrostachya Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis albivaginata var. stricta Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis albivaginata var. tenuis Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis albovaginata Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis albovaginata var. humilis Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis arechavaletae Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis biocreata Nees
  • Eleocharis dussiana Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis flaccida (Rchb. ex A.Spreng.) Urb.
  • Eleocharis flaccida var. arechavaletae Osten
  • Eleocharis flaccida var. capitata H.Pfeiff.
  • Eleocharis flaccida var. fuscescens Kük.
  • Eleocharis flaccida var. genuina Osten
  • Eleocharis flaccida var. humilis Kük. ex Osten
  • Eleocharis flaccida var. macrostachya Osten
  • Eleocharis flaccida var. olivacea Fernald & Griscom
  • Eleocharis flavescens var. dussiana (Boeckeler) Stehlé
  • Eleocharis flavescens var. fuscescens (Kük.) Svenson
  • Eleocharis flavescens var. thermalis (Rydb.) Cronquist
  • Eleocharis ochreata Nees

and 28 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.