Eleocharis quadrangulata(Michx.) Roem. & Schult.

squarestem spikerush

WFO wfo-0000405839 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Eleocharis quadrangulata, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. a Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-05-30 / obs. 132677964
Eleocharis quadrangulata, photographed by Dan Johnson
fig. b Dan Johnson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 102655101
Eleocharis quadrangulata, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. c Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 2589278
Eleocharis quadrangulata, photographed by Ken Kneidel
fig. d Ken Kneidel, CC0 1.0 / obs. 48086165
Eleocharis quadrangulata, photographed by Tom Field
fig. e Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159981354
Eleocharis quadrangulata, photographed by Nathan Aaron
fig. f Nathan Aaron, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 130781476
Eleocharis quadrangulata, photographed by anguspritchard
fig. g anguspritchard, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 51720596
Eleocharis quadrangulata, photographed by Laura Clark
fig. h Laura Clark, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 7256292

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 32 botanical countries

Regions where Eleocharis quadrangulata is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlabamaArkansasConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMarylandMassachusettsMexico NortheastMexico SouthwestMichiganMississippiMissouriNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsin DelawareDistrict of Columbia
Native distribution of Eleocharis quadrangulata, 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
Arkansas ARK
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southwest MXS
Michigan MIC
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS

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 5 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 quadrangulata var. crassior Fernald
  • Eleocharis quadrangulata var. quadrangulata
  • Eleocharis quadrangulata var. typica Fernald
  • Limnochloa quadrangulata (Michx.) Nees
  • Scirpus quadrangulatus Michx.

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.