Eleocharis interstincta(Vahl) Roem. & Schult.

Giant SpikerushKnotted Spikerushknotted spikerush

WFO wfo-0000404421 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Eleocharis interstincta, photographed by Andrew Durso
fig. a Andrew Durso, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-12-01 / obs. 171010318
Eleocharis interstincta, photographed by johnyochum
fig. b johnyochum, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 126513483
Eleocharis interstincta, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. c Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 128955787
Eleocharis interstincta, photographed by Claire Herzog
fig. d Claire Herzog, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 70720617
Eleocharis interstincta, photographed by Bonnie Isaac
fig. e Bonnie Isaac, CC0 1.0 / obs. 38737814
Eleocharis interstincta, photographed by Sam Kieschnick
fig. f Sam Kieschnick, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 18025633
Eleocharis interstincta, photographed by johnyochum
fig. g johnyochum, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 16925657
Eleocharis interstincta, photographed by Martín Sánchez Vilchis
fig. h Martín Sánchez Vilchis, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 9026914

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 36 botanical countries

Regions where Eleocharis interstincta is native: Florida, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Oklahoma, Texas, Argentina Northeast, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil West-Central, Cayman Is., Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is. FloridaMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestOklahomaTexasArgentina NortheastBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela BahamasBermudaCayman Is.Leeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Eleocharis interstincta, 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
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bahamas BAH
Belize BLZ
Bermuda BER
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil West-Central BZC
Cayman Is. CAY
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Florida FLA NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Oklahoma OKL
Texas TEX

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.

Also published as 11 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.

  • Eleocharis articulata Kunth
  • Eleocharis cognata Steud.
  • Eleocharis obsoleta (Nees) Steud.
  • Eleocharis plantaginea Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis septata Miq.
  • Limnochloa articulata Nees
  • Limnochloa obsoleta Nees
  • Scirpus interstinctus Vahl
  • Scirpus plantagineus Sw.
  • Scirpus plantagineus Hance
  • Trichophyllum interstinctum (Vahl) House

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.