Eleocharis brachycarpa Svenson (1929:200)
Short(-)fruit spikerush
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Missing (NatureServe, 2026 [Texas only]) or Extinct (Knapp et al., 2021; Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022)
Last record: 1834 (Texas, USA) (Knapp et al., 2021; NatureServe, 2026); 1959 (Tamaulipas, Mexico) (Knapp et al., 2021)
This species has been identified as one of the 50 best candidates for de-extinction, ranking 25/50 (Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022).
Distribution & Habitat
Mexico & Texas, USA
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Svenson, H. K. (1929). Monographic studies in the genus Eleocharis. Rhodora 31: 121-135; 152-163; 167-191; 199-219; 224-242.
Other references:
Albani Rocchetti, Giulia, Carta, Angelino, Mondoni, Andrea, Godefroid, Sandrine, Davis, Charles C., Caneva, Giulia, Albrecht, Matthew A., Alvarado, Karla, Bijmoer, Roxali, Borosova, Renata, Bräuchler, Christian, Breman, Elinor, Briggs, Marie, Buord, Stephane, Cave, Lynette H., Da Silva, Nílber Gonçalves, Davey, Alexandra H., Davies, Rachael M., Dickie, John B., Fabillo, Melodina, Fleischmann, Andreas, Franks, Andrew, Hall, Geoffrey, Kantvilas, Gintaras, Klak, Cornelia, Liu, Udayangani, Medina, Leopoldo, Reinhammar, Lars Gunnar, Sebola, Ramagwai J., Schönberger, Ines, Sweeney, Patrick, Voglmayr, Hermann, White, Adam, Wieringa, Jan J., Zippel, Elke Zippel and Abeli, Thomas. (2022). Selecting the best candidates for resurrecting extinct-in-the-wild plants from herbaria. Nature Plants 8: 1385-1393. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01296-7 [Supplementary Tables S1-S6]
Correll, D. S. and Johnston, M. C. (1970). Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas. Texas research Foundatin. 1881 pp.
Espejo Serna, A. and López-Ferrari, A. R. (1997). Las Monocotiledóneas Mexicanas una Sinopsis Florística 5: 1-98. Consejo Nacional de la Flora de México, México D.F.
Geiser, S. W. (1948). Naturalists of the frontier. Second edition. Southern Methodist Univ. Press, Dallas, Texas. 296 pp.
Govaerts, R. (2004). World Checklist of Monocotyledons Database in ACCESS: 1-54382. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Govaerts, R. and Simpson, D. A. (2007). World Checklist of Cyperaceae. Sedges: 1-765. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Kartesz, J. T. (1994). A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Knapp, Wesley M., Frances, Anne, Noss, Reed, Naczi, Robert F. C., Weakley, Alan, Gann, George D., Baldwin, Bruce G., Miller, James, McIntyre, Patrick, Mishler, Brent D., Moore, Gerry, Olmstead, Richard G., Strong, Anna, Kennedy, Kathryn, Heidel, Bonnie and Gluesenkamp, Daniel. (2021). Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada. Conservation Biology 35(1): 360-368. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13621 [Supporting Information (Appendix S1)]
NatureServe. (2026). Eleocharis brachycarpa: Short-fruit Spikerush. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available at: https://explorer.natureserve.org/ [Accessed on 22 August 2026]
Poole, J. M., Carr, W. R., Price, D. M. and Singhurst, J. R. (2007). Rare plants of Texas. Texas A&M University Press, College Station. 640 pp.
POWO. (2024). Plants of the World Online (online resource). Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/ [Accessed 18 August 2024]
Smith, S.G., J.J. Bruhl, M.S. Gonzalez-Elizondo, F.J. Menapace. (2002). Eleocharis. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+, Flora of North America North of Mexico. 19+ vols. New York and Oxford. Vol. 23, pp. 60-120.
Walter, Kerry S. and Gillett, Harriet J. (eds.). (1998). 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants. Compiled by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Gland, Switzerland & Cambridge, UK: IUCN – The World Conservation Union. lxiv + 862 pp.