Egleria

Scientific name

Egleria L.T.Eiten

Family

Cyperaceae

Similar genera

Bacopa myriophylloides, Cotula myriophylloides, Hydrothrix, Hydrotriche

Native distribution

Brazil, Venezuela

Species cultivated

Egleria fluctuans L.T. Eiten is not commercially cultivated, but is traded amongst hobbyists

Adventive distribution

none

Weed status

not weedy

Habit

submerged submerged:
(adj) (syn. submersed) under water; submerged below the water surface
or floating sedge with emergentemergent:
(adj) (syn. emersed) with parts raised out of the water; extending up out of the water
spikelets

Brief description

Delicate, caulinecauline:
(adj) pertaining to or belonging to the stem
sedge. Stems irregularly branched towards base, with upper branches in whorl-like clusters, usually subtended by a membranous sheath. Nodes have numerous, hair-like branches, often mistaken for leaves, in whorl-like clusters in axils of scale-like sheaths. Inflorescenceinflorescence:
(n) the arrangement of flowers on the floral axis
is one or more verticillateverticillate:
(adj) borne in verticils
, linear, many-flowered spikes borne on long pedunclepeduncle:
(n) the stalk of a flower cluster or inflorescence
. Glumes oblongoblong:
(adj) two to four times longer than wide, with +/- parallel sides
, the lowest one tubulartubular:
(adj) (of a corolla, perianth, calyx tube or other structure) (1) tube-shaped; cylindrical: narrow and elongate with more or less straight sides; (2) having segments fused into a tube (of any shape)
and partly enclosing the spikeletspikelet:
(n) a small spike; basic unit of the grass and sedge inflorescence, commonly consisting of one to many florets (small flowers) subtended by bracts
. Flowers bisexualbisexual:
(adj) having both male and female sexual reproductive structures on one individual or in one flower
; perianthperianth:
(n) collective term for the calyx and corolla of a flower; also used for floral whorl(s) in which the calyx and corolla cannot be resolved; any of the leaves or bracts surrounding the sex organs of bryophytes
reduced to bristles with backwardly directed barbs, persisting in fruit; stamens 3; stigmasstigmas:
(n) the portion of the pistil that is receptive to pollen
3; stylestyle:
(n) in a flower, the narrow and elongated part of the pistil between the stigma and the ovary
base cylindricalcylindrical:
(adj) forming a nearly true cylinder
, persisting in fruit.

Natural habitat

soft, salt-poor waters, such as tributaries, rivers, and lakes

Additional comments

Once a monotypicmonotypic:
(adj) represented by a single example (species)
genus, Egleria fluctuans was recently shown to be a highly modified species of Eleocharis in a molecular phylogenetic analysis (Hinchliff et al, 2010).