Rhynchospora fascicularis |
Rhynchospora eximia |
|
---|---|---|
fascicled beaksedge |
Florida beaksedge |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, cespitose, 100–150 cm; rhizomes absent. | Plants perennial or annual, single or cespitose, (10–)20–50 cm; rhizomes absent. |
Culms | erect to excurvedascending, narrowly linear to ± filiform, terete to obscurely trigonous, leafy, densely so toward base, stiff to rather lax. |
spreading to erect, leafy, obtusely triangular. |
Leaves | overtopped by culm; blades linear, ascending, proximally flat, 1–4 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering gradually. |
often exceeding inflorescences; blades narrowly linear, proximally flat, 1–3 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 of 1–5 corymbs; leafy bracts much exceeding corymbs. |
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. |
few to several, on ascending, stiff, short-to-elongate branches, red-brown to brown, lanceoloid, (5–)6–10 mm, apex acuminate; fertile scales many, ovate, shallowly convex, 5 mm, apex acuminate; midrib short-excurrent or not. |
Flowers | bristles 5–6, from rudimentary to reaching tubercle tip, or (rarely) beyond, antrorsely barbellate. |
perianth absent. |
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. |
1.5 mm; body dark brown to black, tumidly lenticular, nearly orbicular, 0.8–0.9 × 0.6–0.7 mm, margins grooved, discontinuous with tubercle; surfaces transversely wavyrugose, ridges of contiguous rows of vertical, linear, raised cells; tubercle broad, low triangular, 0.2–0.3 mm, crustaceous, base capping fruit summit, raised at ends, apex shortacuminate. |
Rhynchospora fascicularis |
Rhynchospora eximia |
|
Phenology | Fruiting late spring–fall or all year (south). | Fruiting all year. |
Habitat | Sands and peats of interdunal swales, depressions in savannas, open flatwoods, and seep-bog edges | Moist to wet sandy peaty swales, pond shores, depressions in savannas, moist waste areas |
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) | 0–100[–1000] m (0–300[–3300] ft) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; VA; Central America; Bermuda
|
FL; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Africa |
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 eximia is often found at elevations from near sea level to over 1000 m in the tropics. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 239. | FNA vol. 23, p. 216. |
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 | Spermodon eximius, Psilocarya schiedeana, R. oxycephala, R. psilocaroides |
Name authority | (Michaux) Vahl: Enum. Pl. 2: 234. (1805) | (Nees) Boeckeler: Linnaea 37: 601. (1873) |
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