Spikerush is the common name of several species of the genus Eleocharis. It is common in rice fields in the spring, especially in fields alternated with crawfish production or on which water was held throughout the winter. Like grasses, the unit of the inflorescence of spikerush is a spikelet. This is a single spikelet composed of many florets arranged spirally. Each floret will produce a single nutlet or seed.

In most of the common spikerush species in Louisiana, the stem is round to oval in cross section in contrast to grasses that are round or flattened and sedges, which are triangular. The leaves of this example of spikerush are oval so, depending on how they are viewed, they appear wider in one profile than in the other.