''Eleocharis torticulmis'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names twisted spikerush and twist-stem spikerush. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Plumas County, California Plumas County () is a county in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,790. The county seat is Quincy, and the only incorporated city is Portola. The largest community in the county is ...

, where it is known from two locations within a kilometer of each other in the

Butterfly Valley Botanical Area Butterfly Valley Botanical Area, in the northern Sierra Nevada, was designated a protected botanical area in 1976 due to its abundance and diversity of plant life. It is located just north of Quincy, in Plumas County of northeastern California, ...

.Flora of North America
/ref>The Nature Conservancy
/ref> It grows in open wet habitat such as

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. T ...

s and

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

s. It was separated from ''Eleocharis suksdorfiana'' and described to science as a new species in 2001.Smith, S. G. (2001). Taxonomic innovations in North American ''Eleocharis'' (Cyperaceae). ''Novon'' 11:2 241-57. This perennial spikerush grows from a tiny

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

and a small, hard

caudex A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is m ...

. It produces a tuft of erect stems 20 to 40 centimeters tall. Each stem is spirally twisted and contracted near the tip, becoming somewhat flattened. The spikelet is under a centimeter long and contains up to 10 tiny flowers.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
torticulmis Endemic flora of California Natural history of Plumas County, California Plants described in 2001 {{Cyperaceae-stub