Cyperus echinatus |
Cyperus dipsaceus |
|
---|---|---|
globe flatsedge, teasel sedge |
teasel-flatsedge, Wright's flatsedge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, single-stemmed to loosely cespitose. | Herbs, perennial, rhizomatous. |
Culms | basally cormlike, trigonous, (15–)30–100 cm × 0.5–3.5 mm, glabrous. |
trigonous, (30–)45–80 cm × (0.8–)1.2–2.2 mm, glabrous. |
Leaves | flat to V-shaped, 10–65 cm × 3–9 mm, adaxial surface, margins minutely scabridulous. |
flat to V-shaped, becoming trigonous apically, 15–30 cm × 0.5–3.2 mm. |
Inflorescences | spikes densely globose to globose-ovoid, 8–17 mm wide; rays 3–12, 2–12 cm, scaberous adaxially especially distally; rachis 4–8 mm; bracts (3–)4–7, ascending at 30(–45)°, flat, 5–35 cm × 2–9 mm; rachilla persistent, wings 0.5–0.7 mm wide. |
spikes oblong-cylindric, densely spicate, ± truncate at base, (9–)12–22 × (4–)6–12 mm; rays 2–4(–5), (1.5–)2.5–6 cm; bracts 4–6, longest erect or nearly so, larger ones flat or V-shaped, smaller capillary, trigonous, 3–24 cm × 0.4–3.6 mm; rachilla ± deciduous, wings 0.2–0.4 mm wide. |
Spikelets | 50–100, oblong-lanceoloid, ± terete-quadrangular, (3.5–)4–7 × 1–1.4 mm; distal spikelet spreading or ascending; floral scales persistent, 3–5, appressed, stramineous to brownish, 4-ribbed laterally, oblong-elliptic, 3.5–4.5 × 1–1.8 mm, membranous, apex entire or emarginate with mucro to 0.3 mm. |
(10–)20–60, oblong to linear-lanceoloid, compressed-quadrangular, 3–9 × 2–3.4 mm; floral scales deciduous, 2–4(–8), spreading, medially green, laterally stramineous, dull whitish or pale reddish brown, often red-dotted laterally, (3–)7–9-ribbed, ovate-lanceolate, (2–)2.2–2.8(–3) × (1–)1.2–1.8 mm, apex acute, weakly 3-dentate, mucro 0.2–0.6 mm, with apical tuft of crystalline prickles. |
Flowers | anthers 0.4–0.8 mm; styles 0.5–0.6 mm; stigmas 1 mm. |
anthers 0.4–0.9 mm; styles 1–1.4 mm; stigmas 1–1.6 mm. |
Achenes | brown, ± stipitate, oblong, (1.5–)1.8–2.3 × 0.5–0.6(–0.7) mm (1/2 length of floral scales), apex obtuse, surfaces puncticulate. |
brown, ± stipitate, broadly ellipsoid, 1.4–1.5(–1.6) × 0.8–0.9 mm, 0.1 × 0.1–0.2 mm, apex ± truncate, apiculate, surfaces papillose. |
Cyperus echinatus |
Cyperus dipsaceus |
|
Phenology | Fruiting summer–early fall. | Fruiting late summer. |
Habitat | Disturbed, sunny sites, in mesic places, well-drained soils | Seepage slopes in montane forests |
Elevation | 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) | 1000–1500 m (3300–4900 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; West Indies
|
AZ; NM; Mexico |
Discussion | The records for Rhode Island and Wisconsin are according to M. L. Horvat (1941); we have not seen specimens from those states. Cyperus echinatus is usually recognized by its tight, nearly spheric spikes; it may occasionally be hard to distinguish from C. croceus and C. retrorsus. Compared to C. retrorsus, C. echinatus has larger spikelets and longer floral scales, anthers, and achenes. In contrast to C. echinatus, C. croceus has looser spikes, shorter, broader, greenish or yellowish floral scales, shorter, more ovoid achenes, and shorter anthers. Furthermore, C. echinatus is predominantly an inland species of roadsides, pastures, and other disturbed ground; C. retrorsus is primarily a coastal species and occurs in drier, sandier sites. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 182. | FNA vol. 23, p. 174. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Cyperus > subg. Cyperus | Cyperaceae > Cyperus > subg. Cyperus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Scirpus echinatus, C. ovularis, C. ovularis var. americanus, C. ovularis var. sphaericus, C. ovularis var. wolfii, C. wolfii, Kyllinga ovularis, Mariscus ovularis | C. wrightii |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Alph. Wood: Class-book Bot. ed. s.n.(b), 734. (1861) | Liebmann: Kongel. Danske Vidensk. Selsk. Skr., Naturvidensk. Math. Afd., ser. 5, 2: 219. (1850) |
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