Cyperus echinatus |
Cyperus prolifer |
|
---|---|---|
globe flatsedge, teasel sedge |
miniature flatsedge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, single-stemmed to loosely cespitose. | Herbs, perennial, cespitose, rhizomatous. |
Culms | basally cormlike, trigonous, (15–)30–100 cm × 0.5–3.5 mm, glabrous. |
trigonous to terete, 20–100 cm × 2–6 mm, soft (flattened in drying), glabrous, often flopping over and rooting at base of rays. |
Leaves | flat to V-shaped, 10–65 cm × 3–9 mm, adaxial surface, margins minutely scabridulous. |
blades reduced to sheath. |
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 100–250, 5–16 cm; 2d order rays 0.5–5 cm; bracts 2–3, horizontal or reflexed, 4–12 cm × 1.5–4 mm. |
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. |
1–30, linear-lanceoloid, ellipsoid to narrowly ovoid, compressed-quadrangular, 6–17 × 1–1.5 mm; floral scales 5–12, reddish brown, 1–3-ribbed, 1.2–1.7 × 0.7–0.9 mm, apex mucronulate. |
Flowers | anthers 0.4–0.8 mm; styles 0.5–0.6 mm; stigmas 1 mm. |
stamens 3; anthers 1–1.2 mm; styles 0.3 mm; stigmas 1–1.3 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, obovoid, 0.4 × 0.2 mm, base stipelike to nearly cuneate, apex obtuse, surfaces finely reticulate. |
Cyperus echinatus |
Cyperus prolifer |
|
Phenology | Fruiting summer–early fall. | Fruiting summer. |
Habitat | Disturbed, sunny sites, in mesic places, well-drained soils | Pond shores, marshes |
Elevation | 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) | 0–200 m (0–700 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
|
CA; FL; tropical e Africa [Introduced in North America] |
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 prolifer has long been cultivated in fish ponds and water gardens and has been reported under the name C. isocladus. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 182. | FNA vol. 23, p. 152. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Cyperus > subg. Cyperus | Cyperaceae > Cyperus > subg. Pycnostachys |
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. isocladus |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Alph. Wood: Class-book Bot. ed. s.n.(b), 734. (1861) | Lamarck: in J. Lamarck and J. Poiret, Tabl. Encycl. 1: 147. (1791) |
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