Cyperus echinatus |
Cyperus granitophilus |
|
---|---|---|
globe flatsedge, teasel sedge |
granite flatsedge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, single-stemmed to loosely cespitose. | Herbs, annual, cespitose, with roots fibrous. |
Culms | basally cormlike, trigonous, (15–)30–100 cm × 0.5–3.5 mm, glabrous. |
trigonous, glabrous. |
Leaves | flat to V-shaped, 10–65 cm × 3–9 mm, adaxial surface, margins minutely scabridulous. |
V-shaped to flat, (2–)4–11 cm × 3–4 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. |
rays absent; bracts 2–4, ± horizontal, flat, 1–6.5 cm × 2–3 mm; rachilla persistent, wingless. |
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. |
10–40, compressed, ovoid to linear-lanceoloid, quadrangular, 5–9 × 2–3 mm; floral scales deciduous, 5–20, spreading, pale greenish to reddish brown, laterally (5–)7–9(–13)-ribbed, ovate, 3–4 × 1–2 mm, apex straight, excurved mucronate, or cuspidate. |
Flowers | anthers 0.4–0.8 mm; styles 0.5–0.6 mm; stigmas 1 mm. |
stamens 1–2; filaments 1.5 mm; anthers 0.8–1 mm, connective apex reddish yellow, less than 0.1 mm; styles 0.8–1 mm; stigmas 1–1.2 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 to reddish brown, broadly ellipsoid to obovoid, 0.8–1.2 × 0.5–0.6 mm, base ± cuneate, apex truncate-obtuse, surfaces puncticulate. |
Cyperus echinatus |
Cyperus granitophilus |
|
Phenology | Fruiting summer–early fall. | Fruiting summer. |
Habitat | Disturbed, sunny sites, in mesic places, well-drained soils | Thin soil over outcrops of granite or sandstone of the Piedmont and inner coastal plain |
Elevation | 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) | 50–400 m (200–1300 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
|
AL; GA; NC; SC; TN; VA
|
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.) |
Cyperus granitophilus is documented as an autotetraploid derivative of C. squarrosus (L. W. Garoni and W. H. Murdy 1964). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 182. | FNA vol. 23, p. 165. |
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 | |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Alph. Wood: Class-book Bot. ed. s.n.(b), 734. (1861) | McVaugh: Castanea 2: 103, figs. 4–8. (1937) |
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