# FYI: Dwarf Hair Grass = Spikerush, Facts, myths, & informative links



## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

I've been doing some google-fu research on Dwarf Hair Grass and have learned a bunch of stuff that I wasn't able to find here, including dispelling a lot of poorly understood, misunderstood, or just plain wrong information being circulated. So I thought I'd do a very quick & dirty write-up on the subject.

First, lets get the name straight. "Dwarf Hair Grass" is a name only used among planted aquarium hobbyists as far as I can tell. The proper common name is Spikerush or Spike-sedge. There are many kinds of Spikerush (Eleocharis) but the two most common kept in aquaria are:

Eleocharis Acicularis = Slender Spikerush, or Needle Spikerush
Eleocharis Parvula = Dwarf Spikerush

Both are salt tolerant and grow wild throughout the continental U.S. along the banks of lakes, streams, marshes, and particularly salt-marshes, in emergent form. (Note on salt tolerance: One article said plants showed signs of damage at 30% sea-water.)

The two are often confused for one another because they look nearly identical they are not the same. Parvula has greenish or brown spikelets at the plant tips, and ripe seeds are yellowish or brown. While Acicularis has whitish-and-red-streaked spikelets at the tips with whitish seeds. Both propagate by rhizomatic growth but Acicularis rhizomes tend to grow closer to the soil surface or above the surface and are relatively unbranched while Parvula rhizomes grow almost exclusively below the soil surface with many branches. Parvula also grows tiny underground tubers that can be used for propagation.

Acicularis tends to be the heartier plant in in the wild growing nearly three times the biomass of Parvula when both are kept under ideal growing conditions and will compete better against other plant species, sometimes displacing even taller plants. Acicularis is more cold tolerant and will grow better then Parvula under low-light conditions. Parvula will tend to grow better in warmer, high-light conditions. The light intensity lower-limit for both is >20 PAR and <60PAR.

Google searching for Spikerush will give many results with good detailed information on these plants. The information above I paraphrased from the sources listed below:

http://books.google.com/books?id=a1...Spikerush#v=onepage&q=Dwarf Spikerush&f=false

http://www.apms.org/japm/vol25/v25p51.pdf

http://www.jstor.org/pss/4042895

http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Grasses

http://books.google.com/books?id=i7...Spikerush#v=onepage&q=Dwarf Spikerush&f=false

http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/elpubs/pdf/tra95-1.pdf?bcsi_scan_FBA36CC5DE08E987=0&bcsi_scan_filename=tra95-1.pdf


If any of the paraphrasing I've done is found to be wrong, or inaccurate please post a correction here & I'll try to update the OP accordingly.


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Nov 15, 2009)

Uber! The more you know...

Someone was bored. :icon_mrgr


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## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

Not bored really, but frustrated that the acicularis I bought from liveaquaria.com has pretty much died & came infested with snails & duckweed. So I went looking for another source- this time for parvula. In searching I came across those links and realized much of what I read here about DHG wasn't right, or wasn't completely right. It didn't take me long to put together the OP.

I bought a 1/4 lb of parvula seed from Granite Seed Co. for about the same price liveaquaria charged me for 10 pots of problematic acicularis. I couldn't find any store selling parvula and didn't trust anyone- including the aquarium retailers to really know the difference even if they did list it for sale. This way I know what I'm getting, and I'm guaranteed to not have the same problems.


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## Casie (Jun 8, 2010)

Very interesting Oreo. :icon_bigg

I saw your post in the buy/sell section and I love your plan to grow from seed. Please keep us posted on what methods you decide to try for grow out and _definitly_ let us know when you plant in your tank! 

I will be looking forward to any updates you want to share. Sounds like a seriously super cool project!


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