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bulbostyle capillaire, densetuft hair-sedge, thread-leaf beakseed, tuft hair-sedge

old world hairsedge, watergrass

Habit Herbs, annual, cespitose. Herbs, annual, densely cespitose, scapose, low.
Culms

to 30 cm, bases soft.

5–20(–30) cm.

Leaves

spreading to ascending, ¼–1/3 length of scapes;

sheath borders tan, backs prominently ribbed, glabrous;

blades filiform, 0.5 mm wide, involute, margins ciliate-scabrid, surface glabrous.

to 2/3 length of scapes;

sheaths greenish or tan, glabrous or hispidulous on ribs;

blades spreading, filiform, 0.5 mm wide, involute, margins scabridulous.

Inflorescences

solitary or more commonly in simple, open, rarely compact, involucrate anthelae;

scapes filiform (rarely with several spikelets sessile or subsessile at plant base), prominently ribbed, glabrous;

proximalmost involucral bract cuspidate or setaceous bladed, exceeding or exceeded by inflorescence.

scapes filiform, coarsely few ribbed, to 0.5 mm thick;

spikelets in terminal headlike, involucrate clusters, 1–1.5 cm wide;

involucral bracts with setaceous blades rarely exceeding inflorescence.

Spikelets

red-brown, ovoid to lanceoloid, 3–5 mm;

fertile scales ovate, 1.5–2 mm, apex acute, glabrous or distally puberulent, keel prominent, short-excurrent.

red to red-brown or dull brown, lance-ovoid to lanceoloid or linearoblong;

fertile scales lanceolate, keeled, 1.2–2.2 mm, glabrous, midrib excurrent as mucro.

Flowers

stamens (1–)2;

anthers oblong-elliptic, 0.5–0.7 mm.

stamens 1;

anthers oblong, 1 mm.

Achenes

yellowish to pale brown, trigonous-obovoid, 1 mm, faces rugose.

trigonous, obovoid, 0.5–0.6 mm, angles often sharp, faces flat or slightly concave, finely reticulate;

tubercle a small button.

2n

= 84.

= 10.

Bulbostylis capillaris

Bulbostylis barbata

Phenology Fruiting summer–fall. Fruiting summer–fall.
Habitat Sandy savanna, prairie, arenaceous outcrops, sandy or gravelly waste areas Moist to dry sands and sandy peats, weedy in open disturbed sandy sites
Elevation 0–3000 m (0–9800 ft) 0–500 m (0–1600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; NB; NS; ON; QC; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Asia; Pacific Islands
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TN; TX; Central America; West Indies (Martinique); tropical Africa (including Madagascar); tropical Asia (including Indonesia); tropical Atlantic Islands; Indian Ocean Islands; tropical Pacific Islands; tropical Australia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

A specimen of Bulbostylis capillaris collected by E. Hall (585) gives Oregon without a specific locality.

Bulbostylis capillaris is distributed over a broad range of physiographic types and occurs in many forms, the most distinctive of ours being var. crebra, which has, in addition to numerous longscaped anthelae, large numbers of spikelets at the plant base.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 23, p. 136. FNA vol. 23, p. 133.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae > Bulbostylis Cyperaceae > Bulbostylis
Sibling taxa
B. barbata, B. ciliatifolia, B. funckii, B. juncoides, B. schaffneri, B. stenophylla, B. warei
B. capillaris, B. ciliatifolia, B. funckii, B. juncoides, B. schaffneri, B. stenophylla, B. warei
Synonyms Scirpus capillaris, B. capillaris var. crebra, B. capillaris var. isopoda, Fimbristylis capillaris, Isolepis brachyphylla, Isolepis capillaris, Isolepis radiciflora, Scirpus brachyiphyllus, Scirpus muhlenbergii, Stenophyllus capillaris Scirpus barbatus, B. floridana, Isolepis barbata, Scirpus dussii, Stenophyllus floridanus
Name authority (Linnaeus) C. B. Clarke: in J. D. Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 6: 652. (1893) (Rottbøll) C. B. Clarke: in J. D. Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 6: 651. (1893)
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