Cyperus echinatus |
Cyperus spectabilis |
|
---|---|---|
globe flatsedge, teasel sedge |
showy sedge, spectacular 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, (12–)30–80(–90) cm × 0.7–1.7 mm, glabrous or nearly so. |
Leaves | flat to V-shaped, 10–65 cm × 3–9 mm, adaxial surface, margins minutely scabridulous. |
flat to V-shaped, 20–45 cm × 2–4 mm, margins and keel minutely scabridulous. |
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. |
spike 1, loosely ovoid to ovoid-ellipsoid, (1.5–)2.5–7 × (1–)1.5–3.5 cm; rays 1–4, 1–15 cm; rachis 1–2 cm; bracts 2–4, oblique or ascending, 1–15(–24) cm × 0.4–3.5 mm, keel, margins scabrid; rachilla ± deciduous, 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. |
(3–)8–40, linear, compressed-quadrangular, 8–18 × (2.4–)2.8–4 mm; floral scales deciduous, (2–)4–12, laterally light brown to reddish brown, medially green or light brown, laterally 2–3-ribbed, oblong-ovate, 1.6–2.6 × (1.5–)1.6–2.2(–2.4) mm, apex obtuse, sometimes mucronulate, medially glabrous. |
Flowers | anthers 0.4–0.8 mm; styles 0.5–0.6 mm; stigmas 1 mm. |
anthers 0.4–0.6 mm; styles 0.3–0.6 mm; stigmas 0.6–1 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. |
brownish, stipitate, ellipsoid, 1.6–2 × (0.7–)0.9–1 mm, stipe whitish, 0.1–0.2 mm, apex obtuse, slightly apiculate, surfaces papillose. |
Cyperus echinatus |
Cyperus spectabilis |
|
Phenology | Fruiting summer–early fall. | Fruiting summer. |
Habitat | Disturbed, sunny sites, in mesic places, well-drained soils | Arroyos, riverbanks, clearings in montane forests |
Elevation | 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) | 100–1300 m (300–4300 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; TX; 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. 178. |
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. buckleyi, C. parryi, C. scaberrimus, C. spectabilis var. filiformis, C. spectabilis var. parryi, C. spectabilis var. scaberrimus |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Alph. Wood: Class-book Bot. ed. s.n.(b), 734. (1861) | Sprengel: Novi Provent., 15. (1818) |
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