Origins of Hairgrass

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I've been wondering where hairgrass comes from.

Tropica says it's distribution is cosmopolitian.

Dennerle also says so. From this page a person says:

It is found in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, North Africa,
Australia---just about everywhere. I know a pond near Jackson, MS, where
it lives. I have had it and it is easy to grow, but it is not tolerant of
dim light. It has very thin cyllindrical leaves and sends out thin runners
with little bunches of leaves coming up every inch or two. it is such a
minniature plant that it can do quite well in a pint jar with a half inch
of mud and three inches of water.

Is the above true, as in Eleocharis Acicularis can be found worldwide, even in SE Asia? Or will it be a different species? If so, what speices? Do almost all hairgrass look alike, regardless of place of origin?

Thanks!

[benny]

I was wondering too.

Actually, I do recall seeing it in it's emersed form during explorations in both West and East Malaysia. However, we were more interested in cryptocoryne instead and didn't pay too much attention. I thought I had pictures of it from a spot where we found some crypts. Have to go see where I can dig it out.

Cheers,

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Photos will be great

I was chatting with the rest... they say they found hairgrass once in Singapore.

[Simon]

not once, they are everywhere. You need to keep a lookout for them

[hwchoy]

you will know this hairgrass very well Eleocharis dulchis

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Eleocharis dulcis is water chestnut! Amazin'. Thanks for info!

[hwchoy]

I do like to caution that not every plant that has a cylindrical leaf growing in a bunch is hairgrass or a member of Eleocharis. Onion plants come to mind

Having said that, it should not be very surprising that some plants have a very wide range, given their ability to be propagated in a variety of ways, unlike freshwater fauna.

There is a very large patch of what seem to be hairgrass at the end of the Pierce Boardwalk.

[hwchoy]

Terence, I seriously suggest you do not try planting Eleocharis dulchis in your tank. guess how I know?

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Haha, no I'm just inquiring, I'm not going to be strictly correct in my tank you see, but I want to maintain the Asian look, so whatever the speices of hairgrass in the store will do for me. No way I'll plant water chestnut, I don't even know how to

Er... you went hunting for water chestnut and you came across the name during research? haha

[hwchoy]

why leh? I'm sure dulchis can be found in many asian farms.

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But most hairgrass look the same don't they? I'll just go the easy way and get LFS ones

You haven't told me how you knew about dulcis.

[hwchoy]

was looking for the various species of Eleocharis, suddenly one of the pix showed a waterchestnut plantation

[budak]

Well, one article in Aquajournal notes that there are hundreds of species in the genus Eleocharis. So it's likely that almost every country or region has its own unique species. Botanist don't care much for leaf or stem apperance, the difference between plants lies in their sexual organs (flowers, fruits, seeds etc). I think it's quite likely that the plants we call E. acicularis or E. parvulus, if properly ID by a botanist, will turn out to be a mishmash of several different species. But from the hobbyist's point of view, if it grows in the tank, that's good enough.

[hwchoy]

www.ipni.org seems to be a good place for a list of plant species