Taxonomic history:
1753: Linnaeus described this species as Scirpus geniculatus in Species Plantarum, 1st ed., p. 48.
today: The current name for this species is Eleocharis geniculata (L.) Roem. & Schult.
original Latin diagnosis
Scirpus culmo tereti nudo, spica subglobosa terminali.
English translation
Scirpus with the culm terete [and] bare; [and] with a spike nearly globose [and] terminal.
| Scirpus | Scirpus |
| with the culm | culmo - ablative singular of second declension masculine noun culmus, -i |
| terete | tereti - ablative singular masculine of group B adjective teres, -es, -e; modifies culmo |
| [and] | [added for smoother reading] |
| bare; | nudo - ablative singular masculine of group A adjective nudus, -a, -um; modifies culmo |
| [and] | [added for smoother reading] |
| with a spike | spica - ablative singular of first declension feminine noun spica, -ae |
| nearly globose | subglobosa - ablative singular feminine of group A adjective subglobosus, -a, -um; modifies spica |
| [and] | [added for smoother reading] |
| terminal. | terminali - ablative singular feminine of group B adjective terminalis, -is, -e; modifies spica |