Eleocharis montana(Kunth) Roem. & Schult.

mountain spikerush

WFO wfo-0000405247 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 3 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 3 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 montana, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. a Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / 2017-10-19 / obs. 11923367
Eleocharis montana, photographed by CK2AZ
fig. b CK2AZ, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 7721855
Eleocharis montana, photographed by CK2AZ
fig. c CK2AZ, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 7721858
Eleocharis montana, photographed by CK2AZ
fig. d CK2AZ, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 7721856
Eleocharis montana, photographed by Juan Manuel Barreneche
fig. e Juan Manuel Barreneche, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 59556754
Eleocharis montana, photographed by Juan Manuel Barreneche
fig. f Juan Manuel Barreneche, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 59556759
Eleocharis montana, photographed by Juan Manuel Barreneche
fig. g Juan Manuel Barreneche, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 59556768
Eleocharis montana, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. h Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 11923364

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 43 botanical countries

Regions where Eleocharis montana is native: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, New Mexico, Texas, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Chile Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Galápagos, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela AlabamaArizonaFloridaGeorgiaLouisianaMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestNew MexicoTexasArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralChile CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorGuatemalaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoSurinameUruguayVenezuela GalápagosLeeward Is.
Native distribution of Eleocharis montana, 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
Argentina Northwest AGW
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Chile Central CLC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
Galápagos GAL
Guatemala GUA
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Louisiana LOU
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
New Mexico NWM
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 18 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 andesica C.B.Clarke
  • Eleocharis chrysocarpa Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis consanguinea Kunth
  • Eleocharis montana var. nodulosa (Roth) Svenson
  • Eleocharis mutata Schltdl.
  • Eleocharis nodulosa (Roth) Schult.
  • Eleocharis nodulosa f. trigyna Barros
  • Eleocharis nodulosa var. angulata Svenson
  • Eleocharis nodulosa var. humilis Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis nodulosa var. subnodulosa (Steud.) Kük.
  • Eleocharis nodulosa var. tenuis Boeckeler
  • Eleocharis subnodulosa Steud.
  • Eleocharis vulcani Boeckeler
  • Eleogenus nodulosus (Roth) Nees
  • Scirpus heteromorphus Steud. ex F.Phil.
  • Scirpus montanus Kunth
  • Scirpus nodulosus Roth
  • Trichophyllum nodulosum (Roth) 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.