Grass or grass-like · Cyperaceae
Blunt spikerush
Eleocharis obtusa
Blunt spikerush is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,267 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Blunt spikerush at a glance
- Native in
- 1,267 counties, across 34 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 11a PLANTS minimum temperature 37°F
- Mature height
- 1.6 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 11a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 37°F; zone 11a winters bottom out at 40°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Blunt spikerush is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,267 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,267 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 38 counties
- Arkansas 51 counties
- California 15 counties
- Colorado 2 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 12 counties
- Georgia 28 counties
- Idaho 3 counties
- Illinois 75 counties
- Indiana 74 counties
- Kentucky 89 counties
- Louisiana 56 counties
- Maryland 2 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 47 counties
- Mississippi 37 counties
- Missouri 54 counties
- Nevada 1 county
- New Jersey 13 counties
- New Mexico 1 county
- New York 54 counties
- North Carolina 91 counties
- Ohio 58 counties
- Oregon 14 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- South Carolina 34 counties
- Tennessee 66 counties
- Texas 54 counties
- Virginia 97 counties
- Washington 16 counties
- West Virginia 43 counties
- Wisconsin 58 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Graminoid
- Duration
- Annual, Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.6 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 18 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.1 to 8.7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 37°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 11a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ELOB2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Eleocharis obtusa (PLANTS symbol ELOB2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources