Rhynchospora fascicularis |
Rhynchospora caduca |
|
---|---|---|
fascicled beaksedge |
anglestem beaksedge |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, cespitose, 100–150 cm; rhizomes absent. | Plants perennial, cespitose, 70–150 cm; rhizomes often present, short, scaly. |
Culms | erect to excurvedascending, narrowly linear to ± filiform, terete to obscurely trigonous, leafy, densely so toward base, stiff to rather lax. |
erect or ascending, leafy, trigonous. |
Leaves | overtopped by culm; blades linear, ascending, proximally flat, 1–4 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering gradually. |
exceeded by culm; blades linear, proximally 4–7 mm wide, apex trigonous, tapering. |
Inflorescences | spikelet clusters 1–3(–4), proximal mostly widely spaced, dense, broadly turbinate to hemispheric, to 2 cm broad; leafy bracts subulate, exceeding proximal spikelets, slightly or not exceeding most distal clusters. |
terminal and axillary; clusters 3–6, mostly dense, narrowly to broadly turbinate, branches ascending; leafy bracts exceeeding proximalmost inflorescences. |
Spikelets | redbrown, narrowly ovoid, (3–)3.5–5 mm, apex acute; fertile scales ovate, 3–3.5(–4) mm, apex acute, mostly with cusp or mucro 0.5–1 mm. |
rich brown, ovoid, (3–)4–5 mm, apex acuminate; fertile scales ovate, 2.5–3.5 mm, apex acuminate, midrib included or shortexcurrent. |
Flowers | bristles 5–6, from rudimentary to reaching tubercle tip, or (rarely) beyond, antrorsely barbellate. |
perianth bristles mostly 6, exceeding tubercle tip. |
Fruits | 1–3 per spikelet, (1.5–)2–2.2(–2.5) mm; body dark brown with pale center, lenticular, broadly ellipsoid to ± orbicular, (1.3–)1.5–1.7(–1.9) × 1–1.5 mm, margins pale, narrow or narrowly rounded, flowing to tubercle; surfaces dull, minutely longitudinally striate; tubercle compressed, triangular to triangularsubulate, 0.5–0.7(–0.9) mm. |
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. |
Rhynchospora fascicularis |
Rhynchospora caduca |
|
Phenology | Fruiting late spring–fall or all year (south). | Fruiting summer–fall. |
Habitat | Sands and peats of interdunal swales, depressions in savannas, open flatwoods, and seep-bog edges | Low meadows, clearings, marshes, marsh borders, seeps, bog moats, savannas, ditches, pine flatwoods, swamps |
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) | 0–400 m (0–1300 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; VA; Central America; Bermuda
|
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA
|
Discussion | In her revision, S. Gale (1944) treated var. distans as the more slender version of the species, one with a smaller inflorescence, more distinctly margined fruit body, and consistently elongate perianth bristles. All those character states appear to vary independently over the total range of the species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 239. | FNA vol. 23, p. 223. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Schoenus fascicularis, Dichromena distans, Phaeocephalum fasciculare, Phaeocephalum distans, R. distans, R. distans var. fascicularis, R. dommucensis, R. fascicularis var. distans, Schoenus distans | Phaeocephalum caducum, R. patula |
Name authority | (Michaux) Vahl: Enum. Pl. 2: 234. (1805) | Elliott: Sketch Bot. S. Carolina 1: 62. (1816) |
Web links |