Cyperus flavicomus |
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white-edge flatsedge |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, cespitose or single-stemmed. |
Culms | trigonous, easily compressed, 30–75 cm × 1–5 mm, basally soft, glabrous. |
Leaves | 1–3, usually withered at anthesis, V-shaped, 5–35 cm × 2–8 mm. |
Inflorescences | spikes loosely ovoid, 5–25 × 8–22 mm; rays (3–)5–11, 0.4–20 cm; 2d order rays occasionally present, 5–28 mm; bracts 3–7, horizontal to ascending at 30°, (2–)8–35 cm × (1–)4–10 mm. |
Spikelets | 6–60, linear to lanceoloid, 7–30 × 2–3 mm, margins appearing serrate; floral scales 6–24, loosely overlapping, light brown to reddish brown, with conspicuous clear border, medially greenish, 5–7-ribbed, ovate-obovate, (1.4–)1.7–2.3 × 1.4–2 mm, apex acute to obtuse. |
Flowers | stamens 2–3; anthers 0.4 mm, connective apex reddish, to 0.1 mm; styles 0.1–0.3 mm; stigmas 0.7–1.5 mm. |
Achenes | jet black to dark reddish brown, sessile, obovoid, broadly rounded, 1.2–1.6 × 0.6–1.1 mm, surfaces minutely punctate. |
Cyperus flavicomus |
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Phenology | Fruiting summer–early fall. |
Habitat | Emergent shorelines, roadsides ditches, marshes |
Elevation | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AZ; FL; GA; KY; LA; MO; MS; NC; NM; PA; SC; TX; VA; Mexico; Central America; South America; Asia; Africa [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Cyperus flavicomus has long been called C. albomarginatus (see G. C. Tucker 1994). The closely related (perhaps not distinct) C. macrostachyos Lamarck, a pantropical subspecies, has been reported from Central America; the relationship of the two species needs further study. Cyperus flavicomus has been introduced in New York; it has not persisted there (R. S. Mitchell and G. C. Tucker 1997). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 159. |
Parent taxa | |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | C. albomarginatus, C. albomarginatus var. sabulosus, C. sabulosus, Pycreus albomarginatus, Pycreus sabulosus |
Name authority | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 27. (1803) |
Web links |