Rhynchospora caduca
Rhynchospora elliottii
anglestem beaksedge
Elliott's beaksedge
erect or ascending, leafy, trigonous.
erect with arching tops, leafy, obscurely trigonous, slender.
exceeded by culm;
blades linear, proximally 4–7 mm wide, apex trigonous, tapering.
overtopped by inflorescence;
blades linear, proximally flat, 3–5 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering.
terminal and axillary;
clusters 3–6, mostly dense, narrowly to broadly turbinate, branches ascending; leafy bracts exceeeding proximalmost inflorescences.
spikelet clusters mostly 4–6, various in shape and crowding, narrowly to broadly turbinate;
peduncles erect, branches slender, ascending; leafy bracts exceeding all but most distal clusters.
rich brown, ovoid, (3–)4–5 mm, apex acuminate;
fertile scales ovate, 2.5–3.5 mm, apex acuminate, midrib included or shortexcurrent.
redbrown, broadly ellipsoid, (1.5–)2–3(–3.5) mm, apex acute;
fertile scales broadly ovate, 2–3 mm, midrib excurrent as apiculus or awn.
perianth bristles mostly 6, exceeding tubercle tip.
perianth bristles 6, mostly spreading, usually exceeding tubercle, antrorsely barbellate.
mostly 3–4 per spikelet, 2–2.2 mm;
body brown on short pedicellar (to 0.3 mm) stalk, broadly obovoid, lenticular, 1.3–1.5 × 1–1.5 mm, surfaces transversely rugulose, vertically finely striate and rectangularalveolate;
tubercle compressed, triangular acuminate, 0.5–0.8 mm, edges setulose.
2–3(–4) per spikelet, 1.5(–1.7) mm;
body pale brown to brown, strongly flattened, obovoidorbicular, 1–1.2 × 0.8–1.1;
surfaces transversely wavyrugose, intervals vertically striate with very narrowly rectangular alveolae;
tubercle flat, triangular or concavely triangular, 0.3–0.5(–0.7) mm.
Rhynchospora caduca
Rhynchospora elliottii
Rhynchospora caduca has its closest relationships with the even more robust R. odorata Grisebach, on the one hand, and the swampinhabiting, more slender, and rhizomatous R. mixta Britton ex Small, on the other. Intergrades with R. odorata appear in Alabama and northwest Florida; intergrades with R. mixta appear where ranges overlap in both the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Rhynchospora elliottii is most likely to be confused in the field with its frequent associates R. microcarpa and R. perplexa. Most of the time it can be distinguished from both by its taller, coarser, broader-leaved habit and by its distinctly redder spikelets. Inspection of the fruit reveals the spreading character of the perianth bristles, these usually a length level with the tubercle tip or longer and giving the whole structure the appearance of an unengorged tick.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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